Already Dead
by QueensGambit
Summary: Madeline Simmons, a ghost from Reese's past reappears after being dead for five years. Now that she's returned will she stir up trouble or will her past catch up with her first? And how does she know Finch? Rewrite of original.
1. Prologue

This whole story is getting a complete makeover. I deleted all of the chapters, obviously, so I can completely rewrite them. There has been a character change, so no more Elle Donovan. I'll try and get the rest posted quickly, and hopefully a new chapter also. Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest, just Madeline.

~J~

* * *

I feel as though I am being watched every hour of every day.

After taking the first few steps out my New York apartment, the feeling of being watched becomes stronger. I do not know who is watching me. Is it a man or a machine whose eyes I feel boring into my back? This is where the paranoia sets in, but I am used to the feeling now. It was a key factor in my job after all. I had to be constantly aware of my surroundings, subconsciously checking an area to make sure it was clear before I dared to enter.

I have always been an observer, a people watcher. This is how I was recruited in the first place. I am a CIA agent. Actually, I was a CIA agent until a tragic accident occurred during an operation.

I lost my partner; killed in action.

I was interrogated nonstop the days following the incident. The agency accused me of carrying out the execution. I denied having taken part, but they didn't believe me… Just when I thought the hell I was put through would never end, the agency suddenly decided to give me one chance to prove my innocence. They offered me the chance to find the man I deemed responsible for my partner's death. My mission was to get a confession and bring him to the agency alive. In return, I would be clear of all charges. I accepted instantly and left on the first plane.

Upon arriving at the designated location, there was no one in sight. It resembled a ghost town from the cartoons of the sixties. Unbeknownst to the pilot and me, it was all a setup… The last thing I remember is the sound of gun fire and a sharp pain in my right shoulder and abdomen. Then everything went dark.

I had heard that some of the higher-ups at the agency considered me a traitor. They wanted me dead and they got their wish.

Or so they believed.

My name is Madeline Simmons and this is my story.

* * *

~J~


	2. Chapter 1

I just want to make this clear; Madeline is in no way, shape or form related to the Officer Simmons on the show. I had a friend pick a first and last name and that is what she chose. So I wanted to inform everyone of that little fact. Now enjoy. (:

Here is Madeline's outfit: www. polyvore cgi/set?id=56949840

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest. I only own Madeline and Justin.

~J~

* * *

_June 2003_

_Barcelona_

"_Hey Maddie are you sure this is the correct spot?"_

"_It's what was in the folder Justin. Unlike someone I actually read the information." Madeline replied._

_A woman with shoulder length auburn hair and brown eyes sat across the small café table drinking coffee. She wore a white ¾ sleeve button up and dark blue jeans with black boots. The brown haired, blue eyed man across from her wore blue jeans, a polo shirt and sneakers. _

"_So who is this guy we're looking for?" Justin asked, leaning back in his seat. _

"_Look over your shoulder and to the right. He's the one with the laptop and Bluetooth." Madeline pointed with her cup. _

_Justin turned around and looked at the disheveled man sitting a few tables away, and frantically typing on the laptop. He turned back around and lifted his coffee cup to his lips and tilting it back finishing it. Maddie set her cup down along with a few dollar bills before standing up. Justin stood up also and followed her as they walked toward the man and planted a bug. When they were a good distance away Maddie messed with the ear piece in her right ear, tuning it to the bug. _

"_Getting anything?" Justin asked._

"_No, just his frantic typing which could only mean he's talking to someone important."_

"_I'm going to confront him." Justin said turning back to the man._

"_We were specifically told not to confront him." Madeline glared. _

_Justin waved his hand ignoring her and walked over to the man. Madeline rolled her eyes and patiently waited, listening in on their conversation. Justin was asking the man for directions causing Madeline to chuckle. Justin was terrible with directions and became his designated GPS. Five minutes later Justin returned and grabbed her hand as the man was watching them. _

"_Have to keep up appearances, dear." He whispered. _

"_So you tell him we're on our honeymoon? Clever I'll give you that." Madeline teased. _

_Madeline stopped and ripped the ear piece from her ear as it screeched. Justin too ripped his out and held his right ear in pain._

"_Dammit what the hell was that?" he asked, rubbing his ear. _

"_Simmons, Browe." A female voice came from behind them._

_Madeline and Justin turned around to come face to face with a woman with curly brown hair and a man. Madeline eyed the unknown man beside her colleague. _

"_What are we on last name basis now, Kara?" Madeline quirked an eyebrow, "Who is this?" she finished, turning to the attractive man. _

"_Not here." Kara replied. Madeline nodded and led them to their hotel. _

_~J~_

_Madeline locked the hotel room door before walking to the center of the room. Justin disappeared to another room leaving Kara, Madeline and the unknown man. She walked over to the table and took a seat as Kara and her partner followed._

"_Madeline, this is John Reese. John, this is Madeline Simmons. We won't be staying long." Kara introduced the two._

_Madeline nodded her head in greeting as John did the same. The three into silence until Kara and John went on their way. Madeline followed them to the door and opened it for them. Right as she was about to close it Kara placed her foot in the way._

"_Watch your back, Madeline." She said with an edge. _

"_Always." _

_Kara removed her foot and walked down the hall, John at her side. Madeline shut the door, locking it and leaning her back against it. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She and Kara never got along and that's why they were never paired up to work together. Madeline walked back over to the table on the side Kara sat and reached under the table. Her hand brushed over something and she pulled it from the table._

'_Bingo. Interdepartmental investigations or they don't trust us to get the job done.' She thought dropping the bug in the trashcan. _

_Madeline made her way over to the sofa when a thud from the bedroom alerted her. She grabbed the glock-22 from the back of her jeans, cocking it and slowly made her way to the door. She gently turned the door knob and pushed the door open. Madeline cleared the corners and cautiously entered the room. The room was clean, nothing out of place except the bathroom door closed. She walked over and opened it. _

"_Justin!" Madeline shouted rushing to his side. _

_She rolled him onto his back and checked for a pulse. Nothing. Madeline searched the bathroom and found a silver flask by the shower. She crawled over and grabbed it; twisting the cap off she brought it to her nose, cringing at the strong alkaline smell. _

_**Beep. Beep. Beep.**_

A smooth lightly tanned hand reached out and slapped the alarm clock off the bedside table. The lump curled up in the middle of the bed groaned and sat up. A woman with mid-back auburn hair and brown eyes appeared from the covers. She yawned into her hand and stood up to grab the beeping clock from the dark hardwood floor.

"Shit." She muttered placing the clock back on the table.

She walked over to the closet and grabbed a pair of black jeans, black tank top and a white button up blouse. After she picked her outfit she went and took a quick shower, did her makeup and straightened her hair. Fifteen minutes later she was dressed and was slipping on a pair of ankle boots and finished her wardrobe with a watch, bracelet and rose earrings. A beeping from her bedside table had her rushing over. The black touch phone blinked as it beeped again.

"Hello?"

"_Maddie, where are you? Is everything alright?" _an elderly woman's voice said.

"I'm fine, Millie. I'm on my way out the door now."

"_Be careful my dear. The books aren't going anywhere." _Millie chuckled before hanging up.

Madeline placed her cellphone in her pocket as she grabbed her wallet and keys, and then headed out the door. She locked her apartment door and descended the stairs faster than the elevator. Once she reached the first floor she rushed out the door and into the daily grind of the busy New York sidewalks.

She worked at a local bookstore run by an elderly lady, Millie, and her granddaughter. Passing a nearby alley Madeline couldn't help but feel eyes on her. She sneaked a glance over her shoulder and saw see two well-dressed guys exiting the alley she passed. She silently cursed and without alerting her followers she slowly picked up her pace. Madeline turned around slightly only to bump into someone.

"I am so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." She paused turning to look at the person. Her eyes widened when she recognized him, "John?"

"Madeline?"

"I-I have to go…" she sidestepped him and continued walking down the sidewalk.

John watched Madeline leave before he turned his deadly gaze on the two men. He had seen them exit the alley and follow her. Thinking quickly he purposely had her run into him, but he wasn't expecting it to be her. John approached the men and knocked them back into the alley. He took out the first man by hitting him on the back of the next, knocking him out. The second man was downed with a knee kick and a punch to the abdomen. John casually walked out of the alley as if nothing happened. They wouldn't wake up for a while.

"Are you there Mister Reese?"

"Yes Finch."

"May I ask as to what you were doing?"

"I ran into an old…friend." John said looking in the direction Madeline walked off.

* * *

~J~

Let me know what you think. This chapter was originally 7 pages, but I'm cutting it into two chapters. Night!


	3. Chapter 2

I know the _Prologue_ was short and some are generally short or they can be a couple pages long. I was only giving some information that will be important later on in the story and felt it didn't have to be ridiculously long just to tell you all that. Most if not all of my prologues are extremely short. :D

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy and remember this is a rewrite of the original. Name changes and history changed. Sorry for the delay in updates, classes started this week and I've been slammed.

Disclaimer: I only own Madeline and anyone else you don't recognize from the series.

~J~

* * *

Madeline pushed open the dark green painted wooden door of the bookstore, the bell above ringing. Madeline shut the door behind her and then made her way to one of the back rows where the sound of books being shelved was. She walked around the corner and found the little aged woman with gray hair standing on a step stool.

"Millie you shouldn't be up there." Madeline smiled.

"I am perfectly fine my dear. I'm still the tireless librarian I used to be. Now be a dear and pass me the next pile of books please." Millie replied with a bright smile.

Madeline shook her head and chuckled. She knelt down and picked up the stack of books and held while Millie arranged them on the shelves. The bookstore was a nice quiet and slow atmosphere which Madeline liked. She was glad to be away from the noisy streets of New York since they reminded her of her previous job. A book lightly hit the top of Madeline's head bringing her from her reverie.

"I need the next stack, dear. Is everything alright?" Millie said tapping the top of Madeline's head again with the book.

"Yeah, I was just daydreaming. Here you go." Madeline held up the last stack of books while Millie finished up.

When Millie was done arranging the books Madeline helped her down from the foot stool. Millie swatted Madeline's hand away telling her she was still capable of climbing down a stool. Madeline rolled her eyes teasingly.

"I know. You tell me that every day, but I can't help it. I'm always watching over people in case something happens. Plus you're the only living relative Lacey."

Millie walked past Madeline toward the front when the bell above the door rang. Madeline silently followed, but veered to the right to the back room. She punched in the code to the room and pushed it open when it clicked. The pass-code was a security precaution Madeline had installed when she heard the store was broken into before she started working. She never intended to work in the old little store, but when Madeline helped Lacey with an ex-boyfriend Millie insisted she reward her.

"Maddie, you scared me!" Lacey exclaimed.

"Good my plan worked." Madeline teased.

Madeline walked over to the round table Lacey sat at and took the seat beside her. Madeline leaned forward and looked at the papers spread out in front of Lacey. Lacey rested her elbows on the table while cradling her head in her hands as she looked over the papers. Madeline grabbed the closet paper and scanned over it.

"Algebra?" she asked quirking an eyebrow.

"I should already be done with all my math courses, but I hate math. I'm just glad it's not Geometry. Then I'd be screwed."

"If you ever need any help just ask me." Madeline set the paper back on the table. Lacey turned and hugged the older woman. Madeline laughed and returned the hug with one arm. The door opened and Millie poked her head around it.

"Maddie, that gentleman with the glasses is here to see you." She said.

"I'll be right there." Madeline responded. "After work you're coming home with me. We'll work on that math homework of yours. Sound good?"

"Dinner too?" Lacey added.

"I wasn't just going to let you starve. Choose whatever you want and we'll get it. Now come on those books aren't going to shelve themselves." Madeline smiled holding the door for Lacey.

Madeline approached the familiar man at the counter and smiled as he turned around.

"Miss Simmons, it's nice to see you again." He smiled.

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Maddie, Harold?" she greeted.

"Too many it would seem. I stopped by to give you the book I told you about. I do think you will enjoy it." Harold held out one of his many rare books. _Ocho Comedias_ by Cervantes.

"Are you sure? I don't want to ruin it…" she hesitated. It looked as if one touch and it would disintegrate.

"I trust you not to ruin it." He replied with a small smile.

Madeline gently took the book from his hand, clutching it to her chest and smiled in return.

"I'll get it back to you soon. Now about that book you were looking for I've found it. If you'll follow me." She said turning around.

Madeline walked along the aisles searching for the one she needed. Harold limped behind her, easily keeping up. He watched as she scanned the back aisles of the store. He remembered Maddie telling him that all of the books in the back were rare and out of print. Most of them came from Millie's own personal collection over the years. Harold stopped as Maddie turned down one of the aisles waiting for him. He followed her and stood to the side as she glided a finger along the spines of the books.

"Ah ha, here you are." Madeline said, plucking a book from the shelf. She turned toward Harold and held the book out. He took it from her hand and looked over the cover, Oscar Wilde's _Ravenna_.

"Thank you Miss- Maddie. I'm glad you found it." Harold said. Madeline smiled and led him back to the front.

He set the book on the counter and Millie pushed it back to him with a smile.

"It's on the house. You've paid enough money here to keep the store going while I'm gone, my dear." Millie told him.

Madeline said goodbye to Harold as Lacey called for her. Harold watched as she left before leaving the store.

Harold stepped out of the store letting the door close behind him. He looked across the top of his black Lincoln town car and saw Reese staring back at him from across the street. Harold limped around the car and slid into the driver's seat when the passenger door opened.

"Finch."

"Hello Mister Reese. Did we get a new number since I left?" Finch asked, looking into the review mirror.

"Yes and it's someone we both know." Reese replied looking at the bookstore.

Harold followed Reese's gaze and found it settled on Madeline and Lacey. The two were laughing about something one of them said as they put books on the shelves. Madeline moved out of Lacey's reach to avoid the book. Harold returned his gaze to Reese only to find him still staring with a faraway look.

"_Simmons I want answers. Why did you kill Agent Browe?" Agent Snow interrogated. _

"_I didn't kill him. He was poisoned." Madeline replied with an edge. _

"_You were the one to last see him alive and the only one in the room when we arrived. Now why did you kill him?" Snow asked again. _

_Madeline exhaled sharply and glared at Agent Snow. They never got along and when she first joined the agency Agent Snow tried to intimidate her. She stood her ground and proved him wrong after her first mission was completed successfully and with not hiccups. _

"_I did not kill him. He was like a brother to me." She answered. She glared daggers at Snow as he wrote something down on a notepad. _

"_The evidence tells a different story." He commented folding his hands._

"_Dammit Snow, why would I kill him? I had no reason to!" she exclaimed in frustration. _

"_Because he was being promoted when you were here longer." Snow stated. _

"_He never told me that." She muttered. _

_Snow stood from the metal table and exited the room, notepad in hand. John and Kara stood in the viewing room as Snow walked in._

"_She didn't do it." Kara said, staring at Madeline through the two-way mirror. _

"_She's a traitor. She wanted Browe's job for herself." Snow replied._

_John remained silent as he stared at Madeline. The look in her eyes was pained and grief stricken. The short amount of time he had known her Madeline never let her emotions show, but when Browe was killed she changed. She was stuck working at a desk since the incident and the strain began to show. _

"Mister Reese?" Finch asked.

"What is it Finch?"

"I asked how you know her."

"We worked together five years ago." He answered climbing out of the car. Finch didn't have time to find out more as John shut the door and walked away. Finch started the car and drove away from the curb.

* * *

~J~

Well I hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to review unless they are flames, then you can keep those to yourself. I'm trying not to rush things like I did last time. I'll then move Maddie into episodes after this little side case. :D


	4. Chapter 3

Hey everyone, sorry for not updating for a few days…week maybe? I forget, but it's only the second week of classes and I already have so many projects! I think they are trying to kill us with them. Anyways, I am still alive and I hope to finish posting the old chapters(now edited) and have a few new chapters posted today and tomorrow. I might even work on them while in Microbiology; probably not though. Ha-ha

Oh and if anyone knows the name of the college in episode 8: Foe, please let me know!

I'd like to thank lionsat and SoLongGoodnight for reviewing. I'm glad you two like it! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest, just Madeline, Lacey and Millie.

~J~

* * *

Chinese take-out cartons, a math book and papers littered the top of Madeline's black coffee table. Lacey and Madeline sat on the floor in front of the coffee table across from each other. Madeline watched as Lacey answered one of the multiple math equations. When Lacey was done she handed the paper over to Madeline who looked over her work.

"You've got it." Madeline smiled handing the paper back.

"Finally after what…" Lacey checked the time on her phone, "Two hours, I understand what to do. Why can't you be my professor?"

Madeline stood up, grabbing the empty pop cans from the table. "Teaching isn't really my thing, especially if it's school. Tutoring, well, that's another thing. Would you like another?" she said indicating to the cans.

Lacey nodded and turned back to her homework as Madeline walked into the kitchen. Her apartment wasn't big, but it wasn't small. It had an open kitchen leading out to the living room with a hallway to the right. She had a laundry room, two bedrooms one with a full bath, two closets and a half bath. Madeline pulled out two more pop cans and closed the refrigerator door with her foot. When she walked back over to Lacey she found her scowling at the paper in front of her.

"Issues?" Madeline asked sitting down.

Lacey grabbed the new can and lifted the tab, opening it and taking a long drink. Madeline raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age." Madeline commented.

Lacey paused mid-sip and slowly lowered the aluminum can. "Seriously?"

"Mhmm. I hated math and my professor wasn't the best, but I managed. Not sure how, but I did. Then again I failed the class and had to take it again with the same professor."

"That does sound like what would happen to me."

~J~

"Have you found anything on the girl, Finch?" Reese asked looking through binoculars.

"_Lacey Hammond, age 22, college student. Parents died when she was ten in a car accident and her only family is her grandmother Millie Hammond."_

Reese was looking through the binoculars while Finch spoke. He watched as Madeline and Lacey laughed and worked.

"_Did you hear me, Mister Reese?"_

"Hold on, Finch. It looks like they have a visitor." Reese spotted a man entering the building of Madeline's apartment. He swiftly made his way down the fire escape from the roof across the street and followed the man.

~J~

Madeline and Lacey were finishing up the last of the homework when a noise from outside made Madeline tense. Lacey looked up from collecting her papers when she noticed Madeline's posture.

"What is it, Maddie?" Lacey asked.

Madeline shushed her, holding a finger to her lips. Lacey pursed her lips and looked around, scared.

"Wait here. I'll go check it out."

Lacey moved around the coffee table and hid behind the couch. She watched as Madeline grabbed something from the table drawer next to the door. Madeline flipped the light switch off before slipping out the door. The hallway was brightly lit and empty. Not many people lived on her floor and the ones who did were seniors. She liked the quiet floor and didn't mind the occasional visit from one of her neighbors.

The item Madeline grabbed from the drawer was a pocket knife. She flipped it open as she slowly walked down the hall. Sneaking was one of her favorite past times. When Madeline was younger she would walk around the house without her parents knowing. Her mom always said she appeared out of thin air due to being light on her feet. Madeline reached the end of the hall where the stairs were and began to descend them when she heard a struggle. She flew down the stairs and turned the corner to the floor below only to stop.

A man dressed in blue jeans, boots, black t-shirt and light jacket lay on the floor, unconscious. Madeline turned her gaze on the man standing in front of the other; John. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

"I don't appreciate being followed, John."

"_Tread carefully Mister Reese…" _said Finch over the intercom in John's ear.

"The girl, Lacey, is in trouble." John replied ignoring Finch.

"_That isn't treading carefully…it's the exact opposite." _

John watched Madeline closely. He hadn't seen her fight when they were in the CIA, but from the stories he heard she wasn't one to mess with. His eyes jumped to her right hand clenching around the knife. Madeline raised the knife getting ready to throw it. John slowly raised his hands in surrender when the knife flew past him. A groan sounded a few feet behind him followed by a thud. John turned around and saw a man on his knees; the knife embedded in his shoulder.

"Did you really think I was going to kill you? Give me a little more credit, John." Madeline smirked.

John turned to his right to find her standing beside him. "I didn't want to take any chances."

Madeline huffed and walked to the kneeling man. She knelt down in front of him causing the unknown man to look up.

"Who are you?" Madeline asked; her tone dark.

The man kept quiet and eyed John behind Madeline. He cursed as the knife was pushed further into his shoulder. He turned back to the auburn woman in front of him, her hand on the knife.

"I'll ask you again, who the hell are you?"

Madeline's eyes narrowed again and she pushed the knife further. If what John says about Lacey is true, then this man was with the other one. She made a promise to Millie to protect Lacey and she wouldn't break this promise.

"Stop dammit! I'm just a hired gun. I was told to find this girl and take her out."

"Who hired you?"

"I don't know! I swear!" he exclaimed.

Madeline looked up at the sound of a door opening. A few people poked their heads out of their doors.

"NYPD, stay in your rooms." Madeline quickly said.

The doors closed and locked as everyone disappeared back into their rooms. Madeline glanced back at John and gave him a smile. John smirked as Madeline turned back to the man.

"I hope you're not lying to me. Now who were you sent to kill?"

"Some chick named Lacey Hammond. I wasn't told anything else!"

Madeline pulled the knife from the man's shoulder eliciting a shout and curse. She stood up and turned to face John. The man got to his feet and aimed a punch at Madeline's head. Before Madeline could move John pushed her out of the way and blocked the punch with his arms. He countered with a punch of his own, hitting the man in the side. The sound of bones breaking reached Madeline's ears as she watched John take the man down. When the man hit the floor, the intercom came to life with Finch's voice.

"_Mister Reese, is everything alright?" _

John looked over at Madeline before responding. "Just taking out the trash."

"You have some explaining to do, John."

"Where's Lacey?"

"Safe in my apartment, why?"

"Let's go."

John walked past Madeline toward the stairs. Madeline rolled her eyes, but followed closely behind. Madeline turned the doorknob only to find it locked. She knocked her knuckles against the white wood door. Footsteps could be heard on the other side followed by the locks turning. The door flew open to reveal a flustered Lacey.

"Oh thank god you're alright! I was getting worried! Who is this?" Lacey asked turning to John.

"He's a…uh…friend of mine." Madeline replied. She chanced a look at John and found him smirking down at her.

Madeline walked into her apartment followed by John who closed the door behind him. She went over to the couch and sat down. Lacey took a seat beside her and crossed her legs while John remained standing. Madeline shared a look with John who nodded.

"Lacey, we need to talk."

* * *

~J~

It's short I know, but I promise to make the chapters longer! Oh and I am waiting for the POI season 1 dvd to come out. Someone thought it would be funny to delete most of the episodes from the DVR and I don't know where to go to watch them. I just have to wait until September 15th for my money so it will be awhile. D: Okay I'm done now…let me know what you think! :D


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest, just Madeline, Lacey and O'Reilly.

Enjoy! :D

~J~

* * *

"Where are you?... I've been waiting for two hours!...John, I swear if you hang up on me I will…" Madeline started to say when the call was disconnected.

Madeline pulled the smart phone from her ear and gave an angry sigh. She had been rudely awakened at six in the morning by John. He wanted her to meet him at a café a few blocks from her apartment. Madeline sat at the small café table, her right leg crossed over her left as she cursed John in her head.

'_That rat bastard making me wait two hours only to tell me he's preoccupied.' _

She thanked the waitress after her coffee cup was refilled and took a drink. The hot liquid burning her throat as it traveled down. The chair across from her scrapped along the pavement as someone sat down. Madeline lowered the white cup and placed it on the plate before looking at the person who sat down.

"I hope I'm not interrupting Miss Simmons."

"If you won't call me Maddie then call me Madeline, just not Miss Simmons." Madeline smiled.

They slipped into silence as the waitress came over and asked Finch if he would like something to drink. As she walked away Finch turned to face Madeline. Madeline twirled her coffee cup around the plate until she felt eyes on her. She looked up and stared at Finch.

"I don't know the best way to tell you this, but a mutual friend of ours sent me to speak to you." Finch said after a slight pause.

Madeline's hand tensed around the cup. She wasn't aware they shared a mutual friend. The only person she could think of was Lacey, but he never officially met her. That's when it dawned on her. Madeline lifted her eyes from the cup and stared at Harold.

"How do you know John?" she asked cautiously.

In the past two years that she had known Harold she never saw him with others. So what drawn him to John was a mystery. From what Madeline could pick up from him was that he kept to himself and had an issue with trust.

"I guess you could say I took him in and offered him a job." He answered. After a brief pause he looked at a spot over Madeline's shoulder. Madeline made to look behind her when Harold started talking again. "It wasn't easy you know. He was a hard man to track down, including you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Madeline asked defensively.

Harold was silent for a moment too long which Madeline noted. Her gaze turned inquisitive when he deftly avoided her eyes. Madeline's eyes flickered to Harold's pocket where a phone was ringing. She leaned back, crossed her right leg over her left and looked to the right, waving over the waitress for a refill. While the waitress was filling her cup, Madeline intently listened to Harold's conversation.

"_You should tell her Finch. She'll find out one way or another. You wouldn't want to break that trust you two share. It looks to me that she won't need some convincing."_

The line disconnected before Harold could reply. He lowered the phone from his ear and placed it back in his pant pocket, John's words still in his head. He met Madeline's steady gaze and reciprocated it.

"There's something you're not telling me. I can see it in your eyes."

They watched each other carefully. Finch didn't want her knowing about the machine just yet, but the time would come when he had to tell her. Madeline uncrossed her leg and leaned forward, elbows resting on the table.

"Harold if it's about Lacey I demand to know."

"Where is Miss Hammond?" Harold asked.

Madeline raised an eyebrow befuddled by the abrupt question. "She's on a class trip. They went to the New York Aquarium."

That's when it clicked. Madeline straightened her posture and squared her shoulders. Harold noticed the change in her posture and the way her eyes danced around the immediate area. A car parked across the street screeched away from the curb and shot down the road. Madeline reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. It rang a three times before someone answered.

"_Hey Maddie, what's up?" _

"Lacey, are you still at the Aquarium?"

"_Uh yeah, why? Is something wrong?"_

"Lace, listen to me. I need you to look at your surroundings. Do you see anything out of the ordinary?" Madeline asked.

Finch listened to the one-sided conversation when his own phone rang. He answered it and was informed by John that Ulrich Kohl beat them to Wernick. Madeline glanced over at Finch upon hearing his conversation.

"_Maddie, I noticed this man in a suit and black sunglasses following my group. Everywhere we go he's there. And he's been staring at me." _

"Lacey, you need to get out of there now. Find the nearest exit and head for Coney Island and find a place to hide; I'll meet you there."

Madeline hung up and pocketed the phone. She stood up from the table and went for her wallet when Finch beat her. He paid the waitress, telling her to keep the change before standing up. She sighed and pushed her chair in.

"There's a car around the corner, take it. I'll let John know where you are." He placed a pair of keys in the center table where Madeline reached over and picked them up.

"Thanks Harold, but I won't need his help this time."

Harold turned toward the building across the street and looked toward the roof. Madeline followed his gaze and smirked. She lifted her right hand and gave a mock salute before walking past Harold. She inconspicuously slipped a piece of paper into his suits pant pocket and then headed for the car.

~J~

Harold sat in the abandoned library in front of many computer screens. He was typing away when Reese entered the room carrying a high caliber rifle. Finch stopped typing and looked up at Reese.

"What are you going to do with that, Mister Reese?" Finch asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Come with me and you will find out, Harold." Reese replied.

Finch followed Reese to the black town car. Harold riding passenger Reese drove off to intercept the consulate car.

Meanwhile, Madeline arrived at Coney Island. The amusement park was abandoned due to the cold weather. She shut off the car, pocketing the keys and climbed out. She pulled the brown leather jacket closer as the wind whipped by sending a chill down her spine. Madeline was just making her way to the entrance of the park when a scream ripped through the air. _Lacey_… Madeline ran into the park trying to pinpoint the location of the scream.

"Come on Lacey, where are you?" Madeline whispered out loud.

A clanking of metal against metal caught Madeline's attention and had her running toward the Ferris wheel. The general vicinity around the Ferris wheel was quiet and still. She walked around the nearby stalls and booths looking for anything that would give her a clue. A frustrated growl emanated from Madeline's throat. Her search only led to her being attacked from behind and getting grazed by a knife. The man that attacked her lay on the ground unconscious due to a head-butt to the nose and an ankle stomp. Madeline blew the hair out of her eyes and walked to the boardwalk when the scream sounded again. She knew it was a bad idea but she wanted to find Lacey fast and get her out of here.

"Lacey?" she shouted at the top of her lungs. She turned around in a circle waiting for a response.

Madeline stood still for a few minutes when she heard Lacey's shout and running footsteps hitting against wood. She ran down the boardwalk, her boots pounding against the wood boards. A familiar figure in the distance pushed Madeline faster. She came to a halt in front of the men surrounding Lacey. One of them held a gun to Lacey's head; the rest formed a circle around the two. Madeline surveyed the men closely and gauged her chances of winning the fight about to ensue.

"Your little friend here needs to learn to not go snooping into things that don't concern her." The man with the gun spoke.

The man's accent and voice threw Madeline off; why did it sound so familiar? Her eyes scanned over the man. The piercing green eyes, dark hair and pale skin ingrained itself into her mind. The eyes held a burning fire as they stared at her; Madeline's eyes widened in recognition at the man.

"_Justin, I don't think this is a good idea. This is the Irish mob we're talking about." Madeline harshly whispered. _

"_You'll fit right in then Maddie." Justin smiled._

_Madeline smacked her partner on the back of the head. Justin held the back of his head in pain and scowled at her. She smirked and took a sip from the champagne glass in her hand. A man walked up behind the two and spoke with a sweet Irish lilt. Madeline turned around and smiled at the man thanking him for the compliment before being asked to dance. _

"_You are a lovely dancer, Miss…"_

"_Whelan, but please call me Darcy." She replied with an Irish accent of her own. _

"_An Irish woman, interesting. What are you doing here with a man like him?" _

"_His father is one of the mobs Don's, and controls everything that gets in and out of the United States; mainly New York and Boston." _

"_My boss would like to have a word with you." He smiled. _

Madeline shook her head to remove the memory from her mind. She smirked over at the man and casually strode forward. The men aimed their guns at her forcing her to raise her arms.

"Is this any way to treat an old friend, O'Reilly?" she said adding an Irish accent to his name.

She caught Lacey's eyes and gave her a reassuring look. Madeline turned her attention back onto O'Reilly and lowered her arms. The men around her cocked their guns and kept a steady aim.

"I really don't have time for this fella's. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take my friend home." Madeline said holding out her hand.

Everything happened so fast. One minute Madeline was surrounded by men and the next they were all on the ground moaning in pain from bullet wounds. She walked over to O'Reilly after making sure the men wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. She stopped just in front of O'Reilly, gun aimed at his head while his own gun was at her head. They stared each other down, neither saying a word. Lacey struggled in O'Reilly's grasp trying to get away. She stopped moving when she saw the dark look in Madeline's eyes. Madeline held Lacey's gaze for another minute before nodding. Lacey closed her eyes and lowered her hands from O'Reilly's arm and braced herself.

"What are you two nodding about?" O'Reilly's accent thick.

"Lower your weapon, O'Reilly. I can pull the trigger quicker than you, and I don't particularly like killing people. I am, however, very, very good at it. I can also make sure the law enforcements never find your body. Now, lower your weapon." Madeline said in a monotone voice.

"Go to hell, bitch." O'Reilly said.

His finger didn't have time to curl around the trigger before the bullet entered his head. Lacey screamed as O'Reilly fell to the ground dead; a bullet hole in the center of his head. Madeline slowly lowered the gun and flipped the safety on before putting it in the waistband of the back of her jeans. Lacey looked over at Madeline in fear and slowly backed away.

"Lacey, I'm sorry you had to witness this. I never wanted you to…" Madeline stopped talking when Lacey slapped her across the face.

"Who the hell are you really, Maddie? If that's even your real name." Lacey angrily asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Madeline was silent, her head still turned to the right. She closed her eyes and turned her head back to Lacey.

"My name is Madeline Simmons, and I was a CIA operative." Madeline said slowly opening her eyes.

Lacey was silent, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Madeline turned around and began walking away.

"Wait, I-I'm sorry about slapping you, Maddie. I'm- I'm just scared that's all. I never expected this information I found to get me into so much trouble. Here, I want you to have this."

Madeline turned around and grabbed the flash drive from Lacey's outstretched hand. "What is it?"

"It's all the information I found and pictures I took of some sort of exchange. I couldn't get many shots before I had to get out of there. I hope it helps."

"Any little bit helps. Now let's get you home, before the cops get here."

~J~

Madeline pulled up to Columbia University and set the car in park. The car ride had been silent except for Lacey's phone beeping every few seconds. Her friends were worried when she just randomly disappeared.

"Thank you for everything Maddie. I appreciate it." Lacey quietly said.

"Just promise me that you won't go snooping around any more suspicious activities. Deal?" Madeline smirked.

Lacey nodded before climbing out of the car. Madeline waited for Lacey to enter the University before pulling away. She looked toward one of the quads and slowed the car. A young woman was stopped by an older man before being led to a car. Madeline was curious so she followed the two to Central Park. She climbed out and stealthily followed the two into the park. Madeline hid behind the trees when she saw Finch and Reese appeared.

'The hell are they doing here?' she thought.

From Madeline's perspective she could see a woman, whose name she learned was Anja, had been married to this man, Kohl. The woman Kohl supposedly abducted was his own daughter, Marie. Madeline slowly inched closer for a better look incase anything went wrong. The next thing she knew, Reese had shot Kohl who was going to shoot the two women. Finch was told to take the two women out of here before the cops arrived. Madeline chose now was a good time to make her appearance known. She stepped from the darkness the trees provided and approached Reese.

"Who was he?" she asked looking at Kohl.

"A former Stasi agent."

"Basically agents like us. Come on, the cops are heading in this direction." Madeline grabbed Reese's wrist and pulled him toward the trees. A hitch in her side nearly made her stumble over, but Reese caught her. The cops arrived shortly after and they watched as the cops and detectives looked around. Madeline walked away from the scene followed by Reese. She placed a hand to her side and gingerly pulled it away. Her hand was shaking and covered in blood; how did she miss getting shot?

"Tell Finch I said thanks for the car." Madeline tossed the keys to Reese and turned around.

"How's Miss Hammond?" John asked, eyeing the woman.

"She's fine." Madeline said before heading down the sidewalk toward her apartment.

Madeline stumbled into her apartment and closed the door behind her. She stumbled into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She pulled a first aid kit and popped it open and grabbed the tweezers, medical tape and a bunch of bandages and gauze pads. She then went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of alcohol before sitting down on the toilet and opening the bottle.

"This is going to ruin the rest of my night…" she muttered pouring the alcohol on the wound.

* * *

~J~

Sorry for the late update! I hope to be updating this story a lot quicker now that I have the Lacey/Mob stuff out of the way. Stay tuned! :D


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything dealing with Person of Interest. I just own Madeline and her lovely little back story.

* * *

Madeline was awoken by the shrill ringing of her cell phone She tossed the covers off her and reached over to the bedside table. Her hand bumped her phone sending it crashing to the hardwood floor. With another groan she leaned over the bed and grabbed the phone. She groggily answered it and pulled the covers over her head.

"_I hope I didn't wake you, Miss Simmons."_ Finch said.

"Actually you did, but thank you for that. Now what can I help you with?" she asked stifling a yawn.

"_I wanted to let you know that Mister Reese is on his way to your apartment. He should be there any minute."_

"What is this about, Harold?" Madeline said.

A noise at the door caught her attention. She put the phone on mute and reached under her pillow. Her hand ran along the smooth metal of a glock 22 pistol. Madeline threw the covers off her again and aimed the gun at the intruder. She muttered a curse and lowered the gun when she saw Reese.

"You really need to learn to knock." She said before unmuting the phone.

"_Is everything alright Miss Simmons?" _

"John's arrived and nearly got shot for not knocking and from the look on his face I'll be seeing you shortly." Madeline said hanging up.

She set the phone back on the table and stood up. The pain in her side had her hand flying to hold it. The action didn't go unnoticed by John as his brow creased. Madeline took a deep breath and slowly let it out as her side hitched again. The bullet had taken sometime to remove and was a painful process. The bottle of alcohol she grabbed to help clean the wound was empty and she didn't even get a drink. Madeline slowly walked over to her dresser and grabbed a pair of underwear, bra and some clothes.

"I'll be out in a few minutes." She said over her shoulder. The bathroom door closed behind her allowing her to slump against it. She rolled the bottom of her tank top up and removed the blood covered bandaged.

"Dammit…this isn't good…" she muttered before climbing into the shower and turning it on.

~J~

Madeline emerged from her bedroom fifteen minutes later, dressed and ready to go. John was sitting on the couch rolling the empty bottle of alcohol in his hands. Her eyes widened when she spotted the first aid kit on the coffee table along with the roll of gauze. She silently cursed and went to pick everything up. John set the bottle down and watched her closely. He noticed she guarded her right side and whenever she turned she would cringe.

"You should go to the hospital. That might need stitches."

"I'm fine. Now can we just get going?"

John said no more and led her to the abandoned library he and Finch use as Headquarters. Madeline looked around at all the bookshelves in awe. She wasn't aware when the library closed that all the books remained. John led her to a back room where Finch sat in front of multiple computer screens.

"Nice of you two to arrive." Finch said turning his body to face them.

Madeline shrugged, crossing her arms and walking to stand at Finch's side. She looked at the computers and saw a familiar figure.

"Detective Carter?" she asked in surprise.

John and Finch turned and stared at her. The room fell silent. Madeline looked up and stared back at them.

"What? She helped me get settled in New York." She said.

Neither of them said a word. Madeline sighed and leaned against the table. "I might have helped her with a case…" she added slowly.

Madeline watched as Finch turned the chair and stood up. He walked over to the printer and grabbed the copy of Carter's picture. He taped it to the glass board and turned back to John and Madeline.

"I think it might be a good idea for Miss Simmons to sit this one out. We don't want the detective knowing she's working with you." Finch said.

"Uh hello I am right here."

Finch turned to face her for a split second and turned back to the board. Madeline threw her hands up in the air before taking Finch's seat. She rested her elbow on the table, her chin in the palm of her hand, as she listened the two talking.

"She usually takes her son to school after they have breakfast." Madeline commented.

They both turned to look at her with a strange look. She rolled her eyes and stood up heading for the door.

"What? I'm a very observant person."

~J~

The day went by quickly, well not really. Madeline spent her day cooped up with Finch in the library. She watched Finch work on the computer and keep track of John and Carter. The sun had set beyond the horizon, the stars hidden by the city lights. A light banging echoed around the room causing Finch to look over at his companion. Madeline was lightly hitting her head against the table. She hadn't been expecting to spend the entire day holed up in an abandoned library. She wanted to be helping Reese, but she respected their wishes when it came to Carter.

"How much longer do I have to stay here, Finch?" Madeline groaned.

"You are more than welcome to go home, Miss Simmons. I'm actually surprised you stayed here all day." Finch replied.

Madeline's head flew up from the table it was resting on. She swirled around in her chair and stared at Finch's back dumbfounded.

"You mean I could have actually done something productive today?"

"That is what I said Miss Simmons."

Madeline groaned again as she stood up. She stretched her arms above her head allowing the kinks in her back to pop loudly. With a sigh of relief, Madeline pushed the chair in and headed for the door. Before she could turn the knob Finch's voice halted her.

"Keep your phone on Miss…"

"Madeline, please Finch. Miss Simmons makes me sound old."

With that being said Madeline made her way out of the library. When her boot covered feet touched the pavement of the sidewalk, she took in a deep breath of the city air. She slowly exhaled and started walking down the sidewalk. Madeline stood at the corner waiting for the crosswalk to change, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She kept her eyes focused on the crosswalk as the sound of movement advanced on her.

'_Come on damn it. Change already.'_ Madeline thought. She turned to look over her shoulder when she caught sight of a man dressed in a fresh pressed suit. She faced forward and began crossing the street as the sign changed. Madeline casually walked across the street, keeping an eye on the man following a few steps behind.

Once she reached the other side, Madeline walked toward the crowded area of the sidewalk. Before she reached the crowd, she looked back and saw the man still following her. He caught her eye and smirked. Madeline smirked in return before turning and running into the crowd. She skillfully maneuvered around the people in her way. As soon as she emerged from the crowd, Madeline skidded around the corner of a building, footsteps echoing behind her.

"Why did I choose today to wear a bright yellow top? Stupid me…" she lightly muttered aloud.

Right after she muttered those words her phone began ringing. Madeline didn't slow down as she pulled the phone from her pocket and answered it.

"I'm a little busy here, Finch." She huffed.

"_What's going on, Madeline?" _

"John, sorry I can't talk right now. I'm kind of being chased here." Madeline responded before hanging up.

The alleyway exit stood a few feet in front of her. The footsteps behind her had long disappeared, but she wasn't planning on stopping until she was home safe. She turned left out of the alleyway only to run into someone. The person grabbed Madeline's shoulders to steady her when she started to fight back. She landed a punch to the person's stomach eliciting a groan from them. She stopped when she recognized the groan.

"John, oh god I am so sorry. I thought you were someone else."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Did you finish everything with Carter?"

John didn't reply but she already knew the answer. She remembered hearing gunshots whilst running and didn't give it another thought. They started walking, heading in the direction of Madeline's apartment. Madeline's paranoia kicked in when they passed by men dressed in black suits, each one reminding her of the one following her. John glanced over at the woman taking note of how she looked around them every few minutes. He didn't comment on her behavior, but he made sure to keep an eye out just in case.

~J~

John held the door open for Madeline as they reached her apartment building. She thanked him and quickly entered. Madeline pressed the button to call the elevator just as the doors were opening. The man inside brushed by them, accidentally bumping into Madeline on his way out. She watched him for a couple seconds until John pulled her into the elevator.

"It's not nice to stare at people." John smirked.

"Something seemed a little off about that guy." She said staring at the door. "Something doesn't feel right."

The elevator doors opened on Madeline's floor. Madeline stepped out and held a hand to the door keeping it from closing.

"You don't have to follow me. I think I can make it to my door without any trouble." She smiled.

John smirked but didn't answer, instead he lifted a finger to his ear and pressed the com connection him to Finch. Madeline watched the expression on John's face disappear and be replaced by a dour one. She shuffled out of the way when John strode past her toward her door. Madeline quickly followed him only to stop and sniff the air. She slapped her hand over her mouth and shouted.

"John, get away from the door now!" her voice muffled by her hand.

John turned to face her when the foul scent in the air reached his nose. Madeline rushed forward and grabbed John's shirt cuff, pulling him toward the staircase. They were in the stairwell when the explosion occurred. Madeline clung onto the railing to prevent herself from falling over the railing, John next to her.

"I knew something wasn't right…" Madeline murmured. "What you smelled was Hydrogen Sulfide; it's colorless, very poisonous and flammable."

"How do you know that?"

"My father was a chemist. Need I say more?" she said pushing away from the railing. She started to walk up the stairs when John stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Whoever rigged your place to explode believes you're dead. You can't go back up there."

Madeline glanced at John getting ready to protest. She knew he was right but she wanted to make sure no one else was harmed. She sighed in defeat and followed him down to the ground level. They exited the building and looked up to find smoke billowing out from the upper floors, flames dancing around. The fire alarm was going off and sirens could be heard off in the distance. John pulled Madeline away from the building as police cars and fire trucks surrounded the building. Madeline didn't watch where John was leading her as images from the past danced in her head.

'_No not my baby!' a woman shouted._

_A little girl was being dragged away from her crying and shouting mother. A gunshot silenced the mother as the little girl stopped crying. She watched as her mother hit the floor with a thud, blood pooling around her. Her mother reached a bloody hand out to her daughter. The girl stood frozen as the life dissipated from her mother's eyes. The little girl's eyes ventured over to the lifeless form of her father who was face down on the hardwood floor of the kitchen. _

_The man holding the little girl around the waist loosened his grip. The girl took that opportunity and wrenched herself from the man's grip, kicking him in the shin. The man shouted in pain as the girl ran into the kitchen and out the back door, disappearing into the night. She heard the men shouting when the house burst into flames. _

"_Leave the brat. She won't last the night." One of the men said. _

~J~

Madeline awoke sweating and pants. The light from the windows blinded her for a few minutes. The room she was in was unfamiliar and immaculate. She scanned the room until her eyes landed on John sitting in a chair beside the bed. Madeline sat up and pressed a hand to her head  
as the room spun.

"Take this. It'll help with the headache." John said handing her two aspirin and a glass of water.

"Thanks." She replied grabbing the glass and medicine.

She swallowed the pills and played with the glass in her hand.

"How long was I out?" she asked tentatively.

"Two hours. I wanted to make sure you were alright when you awoke. You should get some more sleep." John said standing up.

Before Madeline could say anything more, John had closed the door behind him. She sighed and slid down and rolled onto her side. She took one last look around the room as her eyes drooped, sleep taking over.

~J~

* * *

So I lied about updating this story quicker. Ha-ha I have to rewatch all the episodes for season one. I'll start working on the next chapter later tonight after Micro lab. Who knows I may even get some of it written during Astronomy. Don't forget to review!

P.S. I'll post the link to Madeline's outfit once I can get it. :D


	7. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy! And I would like to thank Evesgreenleaf for reviewing! I felt like I had to expand a little more on her past, there will most definitely be more to come!

And here is Madeline's outfit: www. polyvore cgi/set?id=60317396

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Person of Interest related, just Madeline and her lovely back story. Enjoy.

~J~

* * *

Madeline stood in front of Finch, mouth agape in shock. She sputtered like a fish out of water at the information Finch just shared with her. Finch looked at her with a small smile before dropping a silver key into the palm of her hand. Madeline looked down at the key, and then looked around the one hundred eleven square foot condo. They stood in the spacious living room and dining room staring out at the terrace running from the master bedroom to the study. The condo was located on Central Park south with a view of the park. Madeline turned to Finch and held out the key.

"I can't take this, Harold. It's well, a lot. I have no way to repay you." She said motioning around the room.

"As you well know it's no trouble at all. You need a new place to live and I am giving you one. And you can repay me by helping John. We have new numbers." He replied limping past her.

"You're not gonna let me give this back are you?" she sighed.

"Not at all, Madeline." He said opening the door.

Madeline shook her head with a smile on her face. She took one last look around her new place and followed after Finch. They walked out of the building and headed for the Library. Madeline looked into all of the clothing stores they passed when she caught Finch watching her. She gave him a smile as the approached their headquarters.

"So how many numbers did the machine give you this time?" Madeline asked as the ascended the stairs.

"Four. One of which we were too late to help. Her name was Claire Ryan. The other three are Matt Dugan, Paula Vasquez and Wendy McNally."

"Any idea where they are or how they are connected?" Madeline inquired.

"The only thing we discovered was that they all came into a fair bit of money recently. Mr. Reese is currently following Paula." Finch answered just as his phone began to ring.

Madeline waited while Finch talked to Reese. From what she could pick up was that Reese lost Paula and had someone else looking for her, and that he needed their help. Finch hung up and turned to Madeline. She knew what was coming and gave him a nod in reply.

"Who are we going after?" she asked crossing her arms.

"Matt Dugan." He replied.

While Finch located Dugan, Madeline took the time to look through John's stash of guns. She pushed a few machine guns aside when a certain one caught her eye. Madeline grinned as she picked up the sleek black glock 26. She weighed it in her hand and aimed it at a spot on the wall. The floorboards behind her creaked signaling Finch was ready to head out. She put John's stash back where it was and left the Library.

~J~

Finch and Madeline followed Dugan to a Ducati store where they stood across the street. Madeline rolled the sleeves of her blouse up to her elbows and pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose.

"At least he has good taste in motorcycles." She commented.

"I don't think now is the time to be shopping." Finch said looking at her.

"Here he comes."

Madeline pointed across the street just as Dugan exited the store. Finch's phone rang again to which he quickly answered. Madeline kept a close eye on Dugan who climbed into his car, but before she could deduce what was happening Finch moved forward.

"The stroller, it's a bomb!" he said walking forward.

"Finch wait!" Madeline called out.

The explosion took out Dugan's car and sent Finch and Madeline falling to the ground. Madeline groaned from her position on the ground. She sat up and pressed a hand to her head as it pounded from the explosion.

"Harold, are you alright?" she asked getting to her feet.

She helped Finch to his feet and turned to look at the burning remains of Dugan's car. Madeline kept a firm hold of Finch's upper arm as they headed back to the Library. Madeline walked beside Finch with a hand held to her side. The gunshot wound to her side slightly hurt and the blast radius of the explosion didn't help. She looked ahead of them and froze. A man in a black suit wearing an intercom stood a few feet in front of them with Detective Carter.

"Madeline, is something wrong?" Finch asked.

"No. No, you go on ahead. I'll catch up with you and John later." She replied.

Finch watched as she made her way toward Detective Carter and the two men standing in front of her. Madeline's hand slipped into the man's pocket and pulled out his wallet. She walked a few paces in front of them before stopping to find out who he was. She flipped open his wallet and upon reading his name her eyes widened. Madeline cursed and walked back and slipped the man's wallet back into his pocket. Her eyes happened to catch Carter's on her way by and Madeline raised her right index finger to her lips. Snow turned around just as Madeline turned her back to them and walked down the sidewalk.

"Come on John, pick up." She muttered as the line continued to ring.

"_I thought you were with Harold." _

"Listen we have a problem…"

"_The link between the people is money. They stole money from a car accident last night, Jamie Hallen. Have you heard of him?" _

"John now isn't exactly a good time. We have some visito…" Madeline was cut off as John began speaking.

"_I'm gonna have to get back to you, Maddie." _

The line disconnected causing Madeline to swear up and down. She punched in Finch's number and impatiently waited as it rang.

"_What can I help you with, Madeline?" _

"I need John's last known location."

"_Last known location was St. George's hospital. What's going on?" _

"I'm not quite sure myself, Harold. Oh and could you do me one last favor? Keep an eye on Carter; something isn't sitting right with me."

"_Yes of course. Is there something you want to tell me?" _

"John has some unfriendly company looking for him." She said hanging up.

Madeline tailed Carter to the police station. She grabbed a newspaper and took a seat on a nearby bench. Her eyes were glued on the police station when a black SUV pulled up. Snow and his partner sat in the vehicle watching the station when Snow looked in Madeline's direction. She lifted the newspaper and turned the page. The sound of a car door opening and closing had her on high alert. She glanced up as a garbage truck rolled by and quickly discarded the newspaper and disappeared.

~J~

Finch sat in front of the computer watching Carter on camera. He listened in on her and John's conversation until she hung up. His interest peaked when Carter picked up the phone and dialed a number. He grabbed his phone and keys before heading for the door. The company Madeline told him about had manipulated Carter. Finch speed dialed Madeline and listened as it rang.

"_What's up, Harold?" _

"How close to St. George's Hospital are you?" he asked.

"_Uh I'm about fifteen minutes away, why? What's going on?" _

"Carter has told them where John is going to be. Third floor garage and Madeline please hurry."

"_Roger that." _

Finch climbed into his black town car and took off for the hospital. Madeline picked up the pace and ran toward the hospital. The sun had set and the moon had taken over as the street lamps were the only source of light. Madeline reached the ground floor of the parking garage and pulled open the door. She ran up the first flight of stairs when a gunshot resounded in the air.

"John." She breathed pushing herself faster up the stairs.

She pulled the intercom John gave her and placed it in her ear. Madeline pressed a button and was instantly patched into John's and Finch's conversation.

"_Hey, Harold." _

"_John, I've been trying to call you." _

"_Yeah. I've been kind of busy." _

"_Where are you?" Finch asked. _

"_In a parking structure. It's not looking good." John replied. _

Madeline cursed as her foot missed the stair, sending her knee into the edge. "John, hold on. I'm on my way."

"_Carter sold you out. They got to her." Finch said. _

"_Yeah, they're clever like that. I wanted to say thank you, Harold. For giving me a second chance." _

"John, listen to me. I'm close just hang on a little longer." Madeline said reaching the second floor.

"_No. You stay away. Both of you. Don't even risk it."_

She stopped when she heard fumbled footsteps above her. She turned the corner and nearly ran into John. Madeline's eyes widened at the blood as she pulled one of John's arms around her shoulder and helped him down the stairs. John leaned into Madeline's side as they stumbled down the stairs. Madeline kept a firm grasp around his waist, allowing them to move a little quicker.

"Stay with me John. You're going to be all right."

"I thought I told you to stay away." John groaned.

Madeline smirked. "I don't listen to orders very well anymore. Besides I'm not leaving a friend behind."

John looked down at her. Madeline met his eyes with a stern look before pushing open the door to the ground level. Finch had just pulled up and was rounding the front of the car to help when the door behind them burst open.

"Hold it!" Carter said gun aimed at the three.

Madeline, Harold and John turned and glanced at Carter who looked shocked. She slightly lowered the gun, but still had it trained on them.

"You?" she said looking between Harold and Madeline.

"Please, Carter, he needs a doctor. I'm not going to let him die here." Madeline said staring Carter in the eye.

Carter stared back at Madeline, contemplating on what to do. She sighed and holstered her gun before walking over and helping them set John in the car. Madeline climbed in first and helped slide John across the seat. She looked up at Carter and mouthed a quick thank you.

"Get him out of here. Go." She said closing the door.

Finch hit the gas and sped away making a quick right. Madeline put pressure on the wound to help stop the bleeding. A hand was placed over hers causing her to look up at John. He was sweating profusely and was losing a lot of blood. She ran a hand through his hand to comfort him as Finch watched them in the rear view mirror.

"You're going to be okay. Just keep your eyes open for me, John." She said softly.

"Snow…" John whispered.

"Shh. He doesn't know I'm still alive. I'll find a way to get him off your trail. I'm not letting him get the best of me this time."

Madeline looked up as the car came to a stop. She watched as Finch climbed out of the car and disappeared. He returned a few minutes later with a gurney and pulled open John's door. She helped lift John up onto the gurney as she slipped the white lab coat on. Finch pushed the gurney down the dimly lit hallway of the coroner's office. They pushed open the door to the room as Finch wheeled John in, a blanket thrown over him.

"Third one tonight. Must be a full moon." The coroner said.

Madeline waited by the door as Finch dumped a bag of money onto the table. She zoned out, not listening to their conversation as she looked down at the blood on her hands. Memories flashed in her mind. She closed her eyes and shook her head trying to get rid of the images. A hand touched her shoulder making her jerk away and stare at the person with doe like eyes.

"Come you should wash your hands."

"What about John?" she asked.

"He's in good hands. I'm more worried about you now. I've been told you've been having nightmares lately. Do you want to talk about them?" he asked leading her to a sink on the other side of the room.

Finch turned on the sink allowing the sound of rushing water cover their voices. Madeline rinsed her hands and then applied the soap, rubbing her hands together multiple times before rinsing the soap off. She kept her hands under the lukewarm water and stared at it.

"I've been reliving my childhood; my parent's deaths, running away, growing up in a foster home and becoming a different person. I haven't slept for almost thirty hours because whenever I close my eyes I see them."

"What happened to your parents, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I don't mind. They were murdered in cold blood for no apparent reason. There was a string of break in's and kidnappings going on and we just happened to be one of the unlucky victims. I was able to get away and ran into the woods behind my house. I don't remember how far I ran or for how long, but I remember ending up at the police station. That's when I was taken to child services."

Madeline splashed a handful of water on her face. The images of her parents were burned into her mind. She didn't want to think about it anymore and wanted the nightmares to end. There was one last thing she had to tell Finch, but she had to make sure he didn't tell John; at least not yet.

"Harold, how good are you at keeping secrets?" she asked a few minutes later.

"I'd say very well. Why?"

"I want you to promise that what I am about to tell you, John cannot find out. At least not yet."

Finch looked at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again the words that came out of her mouth surprised Finch.

"What is your real name then?" he asked.

"Madeline Simmons is technically my real name, or at least Madeline is my name, Simmons however is the last name of the foster parents that took me in. My name is Madeline Slater."

* * *

~J~

Oh boy! A little more is starting to come out about Madeline! Let me know what you think and don't forget to review!


	8. Chapter 7

It was really difficult to type this while watching Jeff Dunham, Elementary and going to see Hotel Transylvania, which by the way is hilarious. Good movie. Anyways hope you all enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Person of Interest, except for the season 1 DVD's. I do, however, own Madeline.

~J~

* * *

The Library was awfully quiet when Madeline arrived. She climbed the stairs, two drinks in hand as she made her way to Finch. When she entered the room she found Harold in front of the computer screens typing away. He looked up at her as a cup appeared in his line of sight.

"One Sencha green tea with one sugar, did I get it right?" Madeline asked taking a seat.

"As always Madeline." Finch smiled taking a drink.

Madeline looked over at the adjoining room where John rested. She stared at his resting form and sighed.

"How is he?" she quietly asked.

"Better now that he's rested. How do you like your new living arrangements? Finally get it furnished to your liking?"

The tired groan that came from Madeline confirmed his suspicions. He took another sip from his tea before turning to the computers. Madeline rolled her chair to his side and leaned in peering at the screen.

"Please tell me that's not a new number."

"You're in luck. I'm just doing some research on John's old friends."

"Hn. You won't find much I'm afraid. The only thing you'll get is a phony description. Nothing more, nothing less. I can tell you his name is Mark Snow and his partner is Tyrell Evans."

"I take it you know them."

"Snow is the one who 'killed' me. As for Evans I don't know much about him, except that he is an expert sniper."

Finch typed in the two names, and as Madeline said there was nothing on the two men. He glanced out at Madeline's seat to find it empty. His eyes moved toward the room John was in and there he saw her standing beside the bed. He turned back to the computer and started a new search on the name Madeline shared with him last night. Half a dozen news reports and missing persons police reports popped up on the screen.

"John you should take it easy. You need to rest." Madeline said.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine. Bullet wounds don't heal overnight. Trust me I should know. Now lay back down." She said gently pushing John's bare shoulder.

Madeline pulled the cover back over John when her phone rang. She pulled it from her pocket and checked the screen; unknown. She silenced the ringing and slipped the phone into her back pocket.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" John asked with a pained smirk.

"It's no one important." She replied brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

John watched as Madeline took a seat beside him and played with the sleeve of her shirt. He took notice of the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. The stiffness in her limbs was noticeable by how she walked. He remembered seeing her reading beside him when he awoke in the middle of the night. John could only guess that she has been by his side this whole time and had rarely slept the past few days.

"You look like the one who needs to rest." He commented.

Madeline's hands stopped playing with the sleeve of her shirt as her shoulders hitched. She sighed and slumped down in the chair.

"I'm not the one that's been shot. Besides I'm used to not getting much sleep, remember?" She answered with a smirk.

Before John could say anything more Madeline's phone beeped. She sat up and pulled the phone from her pocket again and read the message. John saw her eyes widen at the screen when the phone started ringing again. Madeline's eyes shot over to him before answering the phone and standing up. She walked over to one of the old windows and leaned against the sill.

"Who is this?" she spoke into the receiver.

"_You're a hard person to find, Miss Slater." _

"I'm afraid you have the wrong number." Madeline swiftly answered.

"_I'm pretty sure I have the right number. I heard about what happened to our dear friend John. How's he doing anyway?" _

"Listen I don't know who the hell you are, or how you know him but I want you to stop calling me." She whispered harshly.

"_I think it's time that we met. I still haven't forgiven you for killing some of my men back at Coney Island. They were some of my best too. Meet me at Oyster Bay and come alone." _

The line disconnected leaving Madeline frozen in shock. She slowly pulled the phone away from her ear before she shouted and threw it at the wall. The phone shattered against the wall and fell to the floor in pieces. Madeline cursed and stormed out of the room giving John a quick look of sorry. Finch quickly closed his search when Madeline stormed past him and down the hallway slamming the door behind her.

"Mr. Reese, what was that about?" Finch asked.

"Whoever called her set her off."

"Did she say who it was?"

"Afraid not Finch."

Finch walked over to the remains of what was once Madeline's cell phone and picked up the memory card and sim card. He walked back into the adjoining room and inserted them to the computer. The call log was pulled up and Finch scanned through, but only one number stood out multiple times. He dialed the number, but found the line had been disconnected.

"Madeline, what have you gotten yourself into?" he murmured pulling up a picture.

~J~

Madeline lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She knew going to Oyster Bay was a bad idea, but the man's voice sounded familiar. She didn't know why but she had to find out who this man was. Madeline sat up and stared at her closet.

"Oh what the hell." She muttered standing up and walking over to the closet.

She pulled the doors open and walked inside. It was filled to the brim with clothes since she had yet to finish her shopping, but it was filled with the bare minimums. She grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and a black long sleeve shirt and set them on one of the empty shelves. She slipped off her clothes from earlier and pulled on the new ones. Madeline reached down and grabbed a pair of mid-calf military lace up boots and pulled them on. Once the laces were tied, she finished off her outfit with a wool cap. She glanced over to one of the built in drawers before walking over and pulling it open. Inside sat an array of weapons ranging from handguns to knives.

"John is really starting to rub off on me…" she murmured pulling out a glock twenty six and a suppressor. She placed it in the back of her waistband making sure her shirt hid it from view. With one final look she closed the doors to her closet and headed for the front door. When she reached the foyer she stopped. A cell phone box sat on the table beside the door.

"Harold, what would I do without you?" she smiled.

A new phone in hand she checked the contents of the box as a Bluetooth headset slid from the box. Madeline shook her head as she slipped both items into her pocket, grabbed her keys and exited her place.

~J~

Madeline stood on the shore line of Oyster Bay. She kicked a rock into the water watching it ripple at the disturbance. The crunching of footsteps on the rocks alerted her to a new presence. Madeline turned around and stifled a groan.

"I don't have time for this fella's."

"Our boss wanted us to see if you really took out our guys."

"And who, pray tell, is this boss of yours? I don't like being kept in the dark. I rather like names." She replied crossing her arms behind her back.

One of the five men circled around her, sizing her up. Madeline stood her ground and kept an eye on the man. She pivoted on her foot as the man attempted to tackle her. She grappled the man to the ground and put him in a choke hold. She didn't let up until the man went limp, and then she tossed him away. Madeline stood up and took a defensive stance signaling the men to attack with a simple nod. Another man aimed for her solar plexus to which she shielded her body with her forearms. She pushed the man away and countered with her own punch. The punch hit the man's solar plexus instantly debilitating him.

"Two." She breathed.

The third man to approach her wielded a knife. Madeline eyed the knife and caught the man's arm as he swung. He wrenched his arm from her grasp and thrust again, catching the side of Madeline's arm. Madeline grabbed the man's wrist and dug her nails in forcing him to drop the knife. She thrust her fist forward and hit the man in the ribs, and then stomped on his ankle; crippling him.

"Three." She counted.

The last two shared a look before circling her, one in front of her and one behind. Madeline positioned her fists in front of her face and took another stance. She heard both men grunt before they charged. When they were close enough she ducked and spun out of the way as the men ran into each other head on. They both fell to the ground groaning in pain.

Madeline huffed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. She dusted her hands off and turned to walk away when clapping sounded. Her right hand flew to the back of her shirt where the gun still resided. A man with glasses and balding brown hair approached her from the parked SUV nearby.

"Who are you?"

"Straight to the point, Madeline. I like that. Reminds me of myself." He said walking in front of her.

She pulled the gun from its hiding spot and aimed it at the man. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name's Elias and you have me to thank for keeping those Russians off your back when you came back to New York."

"Excuse me?" she asked lost.

"You have skill. You'd be a perfect addition to the family. What do you say? Join the underworld filled with mobs or continue working with John?"

Madeline lowered the gun. "No thanks. I already have a job plus I don't play nice with people I don't know."

She walked past Elias heading for the street when his voice stopped her.

"He's going to bring you down."

"I'll take my chances." She said ending the conversation.

~J~

Madeline was a few blocks away from the Library when her new phone started ringing. She pulled it from her back pocket and smiled at the caller. She answered the phone and held it to her ear.

"Hello Harold."

"_I've been trying to call you for hours." _

"Uh yeah, sorry about that. I had something to take care of, and then I stopped for takeout. Hope you're hungry."

"_I take it you'll be sleeping here again tonight?" _

"Someone has to keep an eye on John. You just focus on the numbers; we don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"_I appreciate the concern Madeline, but even you need sleep." _

"You sound just like John. If it makes you both feel better I'll get some sleep tonight. Alright? I'll be up in a few minutes."

Madeline hung up and entered the Library. She climbed the stairs for the third time today and walked down the hallway. She entered to find Finch reading and John sitting up. Finch looked over the top of the book before closing it.

"I see someone's up. How are you feeling?" she asked John.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Finch said standing up.

Madeline gave him an amused look and looked back at John. She handed the bag of food off to Finch before taking his seat.

"So how are you feeling?" she asked again.

"Restless, bored. What?"

"I never thought I'd hear you say the word bored." She chuckled.

"Doesn't happen very often." He smirked.

John looked over at the doorway causing Madeline to follow his gaze. She found Finch standing in the door way with the box of food.

"Something wrong with the food?"

"You consider this takeout?" he asked showing her the box of steak, potatoes and carrots. "You certainly have expensive taste."

"Oh yeah, I didn't pay for that."

Madeline rolled her eyes at the astonished look on his face. "What? I did pay for it, but it wasn't my money."

"Well who's was it?" John asked.

"Harold's." she smiled revealing pearly white teeth.

John let out a small laugh which caused a spark of pain to shoot through him. He groaned which caused Madeline to whirl around. She checked him over to make sure they didn't miss any other injuries. Once she was satisfied she looked John in the eye and found them alight with amusement. A small blush appeared across her cheeks.

"Sorry, I get a little carried away…" she said rubbing the back of her head.

"No. No it's fine. At least I know who I can go to the next time I'm injured." John replied leaning against the pillows. Madeline smiled and leaned back in the chair grabbing the book Finch was reading off the table.

~J~

A few hours passed and Madeline had ended up on the floor reading. John leaned over the bed and found her sleeping and using the book as her pillow. Finch appeared in the doorway with a blanket and pillow. He limped over to Madeline and bent over replacing the book with the pillow and laying the blanket over her.

"It's nice to finally see her getting some sleep." Finch commented straightening.

"How long have you known her?" John asked keeping his eyes on Madeline.

"About four years now." Finch answered holding the book. He walked over to one of the bookshelves and placed the book in its spot.

"She's one of the few people you trust."

"And she is the one who helped me find you."

John eyed Finch closely. He didn't know Madeline helped Finch before him. That brought a whole other round of questions he'd want answers to. John took his eyes off Madeline to watch Finch return to his computers and start typing away. He looked back down at Madeline and watched as she rolled on to her side and curled into a ball, pulling the blanket closer. John eased himself down onto the bed and pulled the covers up. He stared at the ceiling, sleep eluding him as he began thinking. In all the time he had known Madeline, he didn't know much about her. She was said to have been killed in action only to reappear in New York, same as him. When he first met her, she was a young operative, but had the skills of a trained soldier.

A light snore brought him from his mind as he heard Madeline roll over again. He closed his eyes but sleep never came. He settled on staring at the ceiling listening to Madeline's soft breathing.

~J~

The following morning Madeline awoke to the sound of Finch's and John's voice. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head. She let out a sigh of relief as her back popped relieving herself of the stiffness. She stood up and folded the blanket and set in on top of the pillow before meeting up with the two.

"Morning." She said stifling a yawn with her hand.

She looked over and found John in a wheelchair. He looked over at her and gave a small smile. Madeline returned the smile and turned back to Finch.

"You may want to head home and get cleaned up. We have a new number." He said looking up at Madeline.

"Oh joy." Madeline said heading for the door. "Text me the location and I shall meet you there." She added walking down the hallway. She gave a small wave before disappearing around the corner.

John proceeded to wheel himself away when Finch stopped him. He turned the chair around and stared at Finch.

"I hope you two are good actors."

"Why?"

"Congratulations. You two are officially husband and wife." Finch said handing him a file.

John gave Finch a 'you have got to joking' look, but the expression on Finch's face confirmed that he wasn't. Then again he rarely jokes. Hopefully Madeline was a good actress, or this whole plan might not work out.

* * *

~J~

Bam another chapter out in only a few days! I'm proud of myself. Ha-ha. This chapter was basically building up to Super and Elias making contact with Madeline, plus I don't want her and John to just fall in love after only a few cases together. But don't worry the romance will be coming up shortly…Well around the Baby Blue episode. Don't forget to review!


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Do I really have to put this for each chapter? I just own Madeline.

~J~

* * *

Madeline walked beside John as he wheeled himself behind Ernie Trask, their latest person of interest. She hadn't heard from Finch since earlier this morning and wondered where he was. The entered the apartment building and took the elevator up to the fifth floor. When the doors opened Trask held the door so they could exit before leading them to room 521.

"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, this is the place." Trask said opening the door.

Madeline had to resist rolling her eyes. They way Trask said their name sounded like they really were a married couple, but she liked the idea of it. She stood off to the side and waited for John to enter before following him inside.

"Watch your step- uh not your step, I mean- It's just one of those things people say you know no offense." Trask said.

Once John was through the door, Madeline brought up the rear carrying a duffle bag Finch suggested she bring. She set the bag down by the door and looked around the place when she noticed Finch hiding in one of the rooms. She shook her head before walking back over to John and Trask.

"Uh we got ramps all over the place, so if you need anything…"

"I'll be on my feet in a few days." John said rolling over to the window. Madeline rolled her eyes and remained in her spot. Trask looked over at her to which she shrugged. He turned back to John before continuing.

"Yeah, but if anything goes wrong, you call me. I'm the Super. Name is Trask. I tell you that already?" he said.

"Twice," John and Madeline both responded.

"Right well I'll get out of your way. Make yourselves at home. Remember if you need me…"

"Just call. We'll be sure to inform you if we need anything." Madeline smiled.

Trask smiled back at her before closing the door and walking down the hallway. Madeline watched as Finch appeared around the corner and greeted them. He noticed John's lack of packing and had to ask.

"Don't you have anything to unpack?"

"I travel light." John responded holding up a gun.

Finch disappeared around the corner and reappeared carrying a box. Madeline eyed the box with a raised eyebrow. She watched as Finch opened it.

"I bought you a little house warming gift." He said pulling out a cushion.

Madeline stifled a chuckle at the look on John's face when he saw the cushion. She walked over to Finch and took the cushion from his hands. She walked around the table and took a seat while setting the cushion in front of her.

"I'll make sure he uses it if he gets uncomfortable." She said. "So what do we know about Trask? I wasn't exactly filled in."

"As you already know his name is Ernie Trask, he's been the super here for thirteen years and knows pretty much all the tenants. However, we believe he knows his tenants a little too much."

"As in, he keeps a very close eye on them?" Madeline asked.

"Precisely. We believe he has a fixation on a woman named Lily Thornton, but to what extent we don't know. Plus there have been a string of robberies happening. That's where you come in," Finch explained.

"Actually, Finch I want you to get into Trask's office."

"Me, why?" Finch questioned.

John looked over at Madeline who raised an eyebrow. He knew she was better at breaking into places and getting out without being caught, but Finch? No way.

"John, are you sure you want Finch to do that? What if Trask finds him? What then?" Madeline added.

"I'm gonna need someone here when Trask shows up. Besides it would be odd for me to be here when the pipes break," John said.

Madeline's brow furrowed. Why would the pipes break? She shook her head to clear it as Reese gave Finch some basic self-defense techniques in case Trask did come after him.

"If Trask comes at you, put your fingers straight out like this and strike at his eyes."

"Poke him in the eyes? That's your technique?"

"No, that's your technique and if that doesn't work you can always take you thumb, jam it in his eye socket and twist until you hit his brain."

"Please stop…!" Finch said turning and leaving the room.

Madeline chuckled once Finch had left the room. She leaned back in her seat and propped her feet up on the table. John wheeled himself into another room. Madeline paid him no mind until she heard a banging noise. She jumped up and ran toward the sound and found John hitting the pipes under the sink with a hammer.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Buying Finch some time." He said once the pipe gave way and started spraying water. John pulled out his phone and dialed Trask's number telling him there was a situation and he needed help.

"I have no part in this." She said tossing her hands up. She heard Finch's voice in her ear and forgot about the intercom John handed her.

"_I'm in." _Finch said.

"Has he done this once before?" Madeline asked looking down at John.

"Possibly." He said.

Madeline sighed and head for the door as someone knocked. "That's not really an answer, John." She said walking away. She opened the door and showed Trask where the problem was and stood beside John as Trask worked. Madeline overheard Trask saying something about not having seen damage since a hurricane, she didn't catch the name but she made sure to remember it.

"Of course I brought the wrong wrench. I'll be right back." Trask said standing up and heading out the door.

"Finch you got to get out of there. Trask is on his way."

"_Trask has a gun and pictures of Lily." _

"No matter just get out of there Harold." Madeline said.

"_I'm going to need some time Mr. Reese." _Finch said.

John and Madeline headed over to the computer Finch had set up and began looking for a way out. Madeline pointed one out as John relayed the directions to Finch. They watched as Finch passed by the security guard.

"Whoa wait. What's that security guard doing outside that door?" Madeline asked pointing at the screen.

"Let's find out." John said typing away.

A camera feed was pulled up showing the security guard in the room rooting through the occupant's jewelry box. They watched as he pocketed a few items before leaving the room. John quickly sent it to Finch who was halted by the guard.

"Well we found the robber." Madeline commented earning a smirk from John.

~J~

"_So Trask is armed, has a dangerous fixation on Lily, and just chased me up three floors. Safe to say he's our perpetrator."_

"I don't know, Finch. Sure you don't want to check with your Machine?" John said.

"_That joke never gets old."_

The door to the room opened to reveal Finch. He limped into the room and headed for the computer. John did a little research on Lily while they were waiting. Madeline stared out the window as she saw Lily leaving the building only to be stopped by an unknown man. Madeline's eyes narrowed as she watched the exchange they had before Lily walked away. She looked over toward Finch and John before making a silent exit.

"You're not tailing her to work?"

"I'm getting pretty good at this thing…"

"Yes, I'm sure the CIA will be deeply impressed…when they shoot you!"

"Just feeling a little restless here, Finch…"

"Use the cushion!" Finch said indicating to said cushion. "Wait, where's Madeline?"

Madeline had started to follow Lily to the restaurant she worked at when she caught sight of Carter. She looked between the two and decided to tail Carter when she saw the men in suits, sunglasses and ear pieces following her. Recognizing a fellow CIA operative, Madeline bumped past them and headed in Carter's direction. When she was close enough she grabbed Carter's arm and led her toward a bank.

"You? Why are you helping me?"

"You're being followed. I guess Snow thinks you helped John get away, am I right?" Madeline asked looking behind them at the men following.

"How do you know John?" Carter asked.

"We used to work together, that's all I'm going to tell you. I don't want to risk him getting shot again." Madeline's voice held an icy undertone.

"I didn't know Snow wanted to kill him. He told me they wanted to bring him back in."

"Just promise me you believe anything else he tells you. Everything that comes out of his mouth is lies. This way," Madeline said pulling Carter up the stairs of the bank.

Madeline waited as Carter traded her coat for someone else's. They quickly made their way out of the building just as their followers entered. They exited the building and were down the stairs and across the street by the time the two men exited.

"Would you mind telling me what it is you and John do?" Carter asked.

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to discuss it." Madeline answered. She turned on her heel and started to walk away when Carter's voice stopped her.

"You care for him don't you?"

"Yes I do, so what?"

"Just making an observation. You should try telling him how you feel." Carter said turning her back to Madeline. "You never know, he could feel the same way about you."

Carter turned back around only to find Madeline had disappeared. She shook her head before heading back to the police station.

~J~

Madeline stood outside Lily's work and saw Finch sitting at a table eating. She pulled the door open and headed straight for his table. She heard him say something about the best steak to which she sat down.

"We don't usually eat on a stakeout. Never know where you're gonna have to leave." She said.

"Nice of you to show up." Finch said. "Would you like something to eat?"

"No thanks. Are you sure Trask is the perpetrator?"

"What are you getting at Maddie?"

She sighed. "I'm just saying look at the boyfriend. I saw an encounter between them and it seemed a little tense. And then Trask confronting the boyfriend who then gets angry?"

"Trask likes Lily and he doesn't want anyone else to be with her. Completely normal, I guess you could say." Finch responded. "And it looks like she has an admirer. She just threw away a bouquet of roses."

Madeline turned in her seat and saw the roses in the trash can. She turned back around and waited for Finch to finish.

"I still don't think it's Trask." She said leaning back in her seat. Finch gave her a look to which she raised her hands up in surrender. "I'm just saying…"

"_Madeline might be onto something, Finch."_

* * *

~J~

And I am ending this chapter here! Cliffhanger I know, but we have to have one, right? And I kind of hit a wall...Don't worry I have the next chapter all planned out! Don't forget to review!


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I only own Madeline and Justin.

Here is Madeline's outfit: www. polyvore cgi /set ?id = 61419590 (Just remove the spaces.)

~J~

* * *

"Where's Finch?" John asked as Madeline entered the room.

"No idea. When we left the restaurant he went in the opposite direction." She answered taking a seat beside him.

"You didn't think to ask him?"

"You know Harold is a private person. Plus I'm not one to go meddling into other people's business."

John raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. Madeline shrugged her shoulders, "Much…"

The two slipped into silence as they watched Trask. The clock ticked by slowly as nothing interesting happened. Madeline was on the verge of falling asleep with her knee was nudged. She opened her eyes and found John giving her an odd look. Madeline shook her head and stood up, stretching out the kinks in her back.

"When's the last time you slept?" John asked. He watched as Madeline's shoulders tensed for a split second, and then relaxed.

"When I was at your place…"she replied turning around to face him.

John wheeled himself over to Madeline and the window as Trask continued digging behind the rose bush. "You look like you're going to collapse."

"I'll be fine." She muttered leaning against the wall beside the window.

"_Do you have eyes on Trask?" _Finch's voice came over their ear pieces.

"Where the hell have you been?" John asked.

"_Now you know how I feel." _

"I take it John likes disappearing for a few hours and then reappearing?" Madeline smirked as she caught John's eye.

"_I was talking about you too, Maddie. Anyways, Lily's headed home. Is it safe for her there?" _

"We're watching Trask right now. But I'm not sure she's his target. I think Trask might be after Rick."

"Told you." Madeline said looking out the window. She saw John smirk at her right as Finch spoke.

"_Why?"_

"He spent the afternoon sniffing around Rick's apartment. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say now he's digging a grave." John said.

Madeline pushed away from the wall as Trask stopped digging. She walked over to the computers looking over the camera feeds.

"_Trask gets rid of the boyfriend and has Lily all to himself." _

"Uh John, you need to see this." Madeline called.

"_Is everything all right?" _Finch asked.

John wheeled to Madeline's spot as she moved out of his way. They looked at the camera and found Trask entering his office and getting the gun.

"Finch, how fast can you get here?" John asked.

"_About 15 minutes, why?"_

"Trask's making his move tonight." Madeline answered walking back to the window. "And Rick just got home. John we have to do something."

A noise behind Madeline had her turning around. She saw John wrapping the end of a crutch with a rag. He began looking for something to light it with when a small silver light appeared in front of his face.

"It comes in handy." Madeline shrugged placing the lighter in John's hand. She was about to suggest that she be the one to set the fire alarm off, but John was already out the door. She shook her head and smiled as she walked back toward the window. Trask and Rick were talking when Trask stood in Rick's way.

"Hurry up, John." She muttered watching Trask's hand twitch in his coat pocket. Right as Trask was about to pull the gun out the fire alarms went off. Madeline gave a sigh of relief she watched people enter the courtyard and Trask walk away to stop the alarms.

"Took you long enough."

"It's hard to maneuver corners in this thing." John said.

Turning from the window, Madeline found John trying to get up on to the crutches. She rushed to his side before the chair escaped from beneath him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him get adjusted to the crutch. When Madeline looked up their faces were inches apart that she could feel John's breath brush against her face. She pulled away and allowed John to get used to walking on one crutch.

"Are you sure you want to do this? This is the first time that you've been on your feet."

"I want you to stay here and watch for Lily; make sure she gets home safe."

"John…" Madeline said pausing when he turned to look at her. "Be careful.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." John said before leaving the apartment heading for Trask's office.

Madeline sighed, taking a seat in front of the computer. She rested her head in her hands as she closed her eyes.

"Pull yourself together, Maddie. You can't go down that road again. At least not yet…" she muttered to herself.

~J~

Madeline's eyes shot open by the sound of beeping. She sat up and looked at the computer screen to see that the hidden network they were trying to find was located. The door opened and closed followed by a familiar sound of footsteps.

"Hello Finch." She said without turning around.

"I hate it when you do that." He replied walking over to her. He grabbed a seat and began typing. A window popped up and filled with pictures of Lily and one of her food. Madeline and Finch shared a look when John's voice startled them.

"_Trask didn't take those pictures of Lily. He stole them from the penthouse." _

"We know. He didn't plant the cameras either, Trask isn't the stalker." Finch replied. He looked to his right, but found it empty. "Madeline? Mr. Reese, I'm afraid Madeline is going after Rick."

Madeline ran through the hallways and downstairs trying to get to Lily's room. Her hunch was right about Rick. The tiny details Madeline noticed when she saw them talking and leaving the apartment. She noticed the way Lily moved away from Rick and her hurried steps that something wasn't right. Madeline had seen this before and knew nothing good came from it. She picked up the pace reached Lily's floor just as she heard a thud. Madeline reached Lily's door and overheard them talking. She heard Lily tell Rick to leave, but he was having none of that. When things started to escalate, Madeline decided make her presence known. As she was about to open the door Finch appeared beside her. They nodded to each other and entered.

"Let her go, Mr. Morris." Finch said gaining Rick's attention.

"I believe she told you to leave." Madeline said afterwards.

Rick released Lily and went after Finch. Madeline was about to attack when Finch poked Rick in the eye. She smirked and helped Lily up, letting Finch get her out of the room. Madeline turned back to Rick and found him getting to his feet and heading for the door. She tackled him to the ground and wrestled with him until he landed a hit to her side. She grunted as Rick got up and ran out the doorway. Madeline rolled to her feet and heard Trask's voice.

"I believe I told you to leave her alone." Trask said.

The two started to scuffle until Madeline heard Trask shout in pain. She ran for the door but before she could help, John and Rick enter the room. She watched as John landed a punch to Rick's stomach and then began to counter with the crutch. John tossed the crutch to the side and continuously punched Rick in the face. Madeline took up position behind Rick and when he hit John in the side; she ran into his back just as John grabbed him. The window shattered as Rick fell out and hit the ground.

Madeline approached the window as John stared down at the man. John turned to her and gave her a small nod. She gestured to the door and helped him out of the room. They met up with Finch back at the apartment and packed up everything. Once the room was clean they all left, Madeline walking on John's left.

"Here." Reese said handing something to Finch.

"What's this?"

"Trask's gun."

"Oh, good. You know his name isn't Ernest Trask. It's Ernesto Machado. He used to own six night clubs in Miami. A yacht. House in Coral Gables. And…" Finch said pulling out a newspaper article.

"A pet tiger." John said after looking at the picture. "So it was all true."

"Even the part about it being bad for his health. He testified against the Cuban Mafia in 1996. Still a price on his head." Finch added.

"He's in witness protection."

"That's why you couldn't find Mrs. Trask. She came with him from Miami, but without the houses and the clubs she didn't last long. She left him. Move in with relatives in Boca Raton."

"How'd you find all this out?" John asked as he stopped walking. Madeline remained quiet and looked between the two.

"I'm good with computers." Finch responded.

"Be honest, Finch. There is no machine, is there? It's just you. I'll be ready when the next number comes up."

"Funny you should mention that…"

Madeline helped John as the trio walked down the sidewalk. She had a hand around his arm to keep him steady as they walked. Finch parted ways with them once they reached an intersection; his eyes lingering on Madeline. She stared back only to look away a few minutes later. She recognized that look and knew that she would be making a phone call when she got home.

"You do know that we're heading in the wrong direction." John said bringing Madeline from her thoughts.

"No, we're heading in the right direction." She replied.

"My place is the other way."

"That it is, but I'm not taking you to your place. I'm taking you to mine. I don't want you doing anything stupid while no one's around. Besides, I'm in the mood to cook and you're going to help me eat it." She smiled pulling him along.

"I guess I have no say in the matter?" John smirked.

"None what so ever, now come on."

~J~

Madeline made a chicken dish called Chicken in Wine Sauce. John helped her set the table while she finished cooking. The front door opened putting John on alert; he stopped setting the table and looked at the doorway. He sighed when Finch appeared around the corner.

"Oh good you made it." Madeline said from the kitchen.

"I'd never miss one of your home cooked meals, Maddie." Finch said.

"Thank you, Harold. All right foods done. Everyone take a seat." Madeline said as the oven beeped. She shut off the oven and timer, and carefully removed the pan. She carried it over to the table and set it down on the towel. She walked back to the kitchen and grabbed the wine bottle she used for the food and poured everyone a glass.

"Alright boys, eat up." Madeline smiled.

Once everyone was finished Madeline grabbed their dishes and headed for the sink. She set them in the double sink and filled one side with hot water and soap. Finch looked over at Madeline to see her engrossed in cleaning the dishes. He turned to John and found him watching him.

"I've been thinking about something." John said.

"What?"

"How did you two meet?" John asked.

"You should ask her yourself." Finch said standing up. "Sorry to leave so soon, but I have some things to take care of. Thanks for dinner."

"No problem. You're always welcome over for dinner." She called over the water.

Finch gave John one last look before leaving. John listened as the door opened and close before standing up and gathering the remaining dishes. He walked into the kitchen and set them beside the sink. He grabbed a towel from the oven handle and grabbed one of the dishes lying on a towel.

"You really don't have to do that, John." Madeline said rinsing a plate.

"It's the least I can do since you cooked. And for taking care of me." He replied setting the dry dish on the island behind them. Madeline paused in scrubbing the dish in her hand as she replayed John's words in her head.

"It's no problem. I guess you can say I like looking out for people, especially if they are hurt." She said smiling up at him.

"How did you and Finch meet?" John asked.

Madeline's eyes locked onto John's as they stared at each other. She turned toward the sink and grabbed another dish.

"He saved my life. I was in New York for about five months when my number apparently popped up. I didn't know my life was in danger until my ex tried to run me down with his car. Even though he was still recovering from his accident, Harold still pushed me out of the way of the car. I owe him my life and if anything were to happen to him I'd find whoever did it and make them pay. He's the only real friend I've got, well along with you." She said.

John's hand tightened around the towel. Madeline looked over and saw the angry expression in John's eyes. She reached out and grabbed the hand holding the towel.

"John is everything all right?" she tentatively asked. He didn't say anything as he turned and left the kitchen, tossing the towel on the island.

Madeline heard the spare guest room door close and sighed. She turned back to the sink, placing her hands on the edge as she leaned against it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Madeline opened her eyes and pushed away from the sink. She grabbed the towel and wrung it in her hangs before harshly throwing it in the sink. The towel made a soft pinging noise as it hit the stainless steel sink. Madeline flicked off the lights and headed for the bathroom where she grabbed a bottle of Tylenol PM and a glass of water. She downed two pills and rinsed out the cup before heading to her room. Madeline made her way to her dresser, and pulling it open she blindly grabbed a pair of lounge pants and a top. She quickly stripped and pulled on the clothes and climbed into bed.

~J~

John lay awake in bed. He didn't know why he became angry after hearing Madeline's story, but what he did know was that it felt like Jessica all over again. John sat up and swung his legs over the side. He leaned over and stared at the floor before standing up. He opened the guest room door and found the apartment pitch black. After letting his eyes adjust to the darkness, John made his way down the hallway and across the living room to Madeline's room.

The walk from the guest room to Madeline's was a short one. John stood outside her door hesitant to enter. He quickly made up his mind when he heard whimpering coming from inside. John entered her room, turning on the lights and was by Madeline's bedside in a few long strides. He gave Madeline's shoulder a shake to wake her up, but she didn't. John leaned over her and gave her shoulders another shake.

"Madeline, wake up." John said shaking her again. Before he could move away Madeline screamed and lashed out with her fist. John deftly caught her fist before it could make contact with his nose. Her eyes flew open, bright with unshed tears as she stared up at John.

"John?"

"You were having a bad dream. Tried to punch me." He said raising her fist.

"Oh, sorry about that…" she muttered sitting up and slowly removing her hand from John's warm grasp. Madeline was startled when John grabbed her hand again.

"You're shaking." He commented as her hand shook in his.

"It's nothing." She replied trying to pull her hand away. John grasped her hand preventing her from moving it. Madeline tried pulling her hand from his grasp, but it only tightened.

"You're cold too." He said after a few minutes.

"John, really it's nothing." Madeline's voice hitched at the end when John's hand pressed against her forehead.

"You're burning up. Wait here."

Madeline sighed as John entered the adjoining bathroom. "Damn it, John."

"You helped me so now it's time that I helped you." John said entering the room again. He carried a thermometer, cold medicine, and a cup of water plus a box of unopened tissues. He set the water and tissues on the bedside table before taking a seat on the bed.

"I'm not sick." Madeline glared. "It's cold outside so naturally I'm cold, and the shaking is because…

"Because of what?" John asked.

"Because of my dream. Do you remember my partner Justin?"

"The one they accused you of murdering?"

"The one and only, well I figured out his cause of death. He was given a dose of lye which caused esophageal stricture." She said. John was silent as the memories came back. He remembered someone breaking into the evidence lab and taking something, but it was returned later that night.

"So you mean to tell me you're the one who broke into the evidence lab?" John asked.

Madeline remained silent but the look on her face confirmed his suspicions. John looked over at one of the bookcases along the right wall. His eyes caught something glistening on one of the bookshelves. He stood up and walked over to the bookcase and grabbed the sleek silver flask.

"That belonged to my father. He wanted me to have it and to give it to someone I cared about." Madeline said from the bed.

John unscrewed the cap and took a sniff of the contents. "What is this?"

"It's supposed to be whiskey, but someone managed to slip a good amount of lye in it. I gave that to Justin not knowing it was in there."

"You didn't kill him, Madeline." John said replacing the cap and setting the flask down.

"I know but I'm the one who gave that to him. I should have checked it to make sure nothing was wrong." She muttered as a lone tear slid down her cheek.

A warm hand brushed the stray tear away as Madeline was pulled into John's chest, his arms encircling her. She was shocked by the action, but was thankful for the comfort. She wrapped her arms around his back and pressed her cheek into his chest.

"How long has it been since you told anyone?" John quietly asked.

"You're the first one I've told." She said choking back tears.

"It's all right to cry. Everyone needs to every now and then."

Madeline need an invitation as the tears started to fall. She gripped a portion of John's shirt in her hand as she cried into his chest.

~J~

* * *

I cannot believe this chapter took me all day to type. I guess I was distracted by all the horror movies playing on TV, along with going to see Sinister last night. Anyways I'll begin working on the next chapter tomorrow morning. Hope you all enjoyed and don't forget to review! Now to finish watching The Shining. :


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I only own Madeline and Justin.

Here is Madeline's outfit! Just remove the spaces and replace the dot. ;D www. polyvore dot com /cgi /set ?id= 61517217

~J~

* * *

Madeline awoke the next morning to the sound of birds chirping. She yawned and rubbed her eyes ridding them of sleep when she remembered last night. She bolted up straight and looked around her room. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night to see John fast asleep next to her, and he was still there. Madeline quietly moved off the bed and over to her closet. She pulled open the doors and grabbed a pair of boot cut blue jeans and a cowl neck sweater. She grabbed a bra and underwear from the nearby dresser before heading for the shower. Madeline showered quickly and braided her hair. She didn't want the hairdryer waking up John, especially after all the water works last night.

When she was done, Madeline walked back over to the closet and grabbed a black duffel bag. She began filling it with sets of clothes and shoes before heading over to the dresser. She opened the top drawer and removed the fake bottom. Inside sat a handful of passports from Russia, England, France, and more. She grabbed the passports and placed them in the bag along with a mini black notebook. Madeline replaced the drawer bottom and closed the drawer. She walked back over to the closet and grabbed a pair of black buckle boots that came up to her calf. With her shoes on, Madeline walked over to the bed and looked down at John. His face was peaceful as he slept.

"I'm sorry, John." She whispered brushing a stray strand of hair. Madeline walked toward the door with the bag in hand. She turned around and gave one last look at John before exiting the room. She headed for the table by the door and grabbed her phone, wallet and keys. Madeline left a quick note along with the spare key to her apartment before leaving.

John awoke to the bright sun shining through the windows. He groaned and rolled over reaching for Madeline, but all he felt was cold sheets. His eyes shot open as he quickly sat up.

"Madeline?" he called out. The room was silent along with the rest of the apartment. John carefully stood up from the bed and scoped out the room. The bathroom was empty as was the kitchen and spare room.

"Madeline?" he called again, louder this time.

When he received no answer, John found his phone and dialed her number. The line went straight to voicemail as John pulled the phone away from his ear. He dialed Finch's number, listening as it rang four times before being answered.

"_Good morning, Mr. Reese." _

"Finch, is Madeline with you?" John asked grabbing his suit jacket and heading for the door. He looked down at the table and found the note with elegant script along with a key.

"_I thought she was with you." _Finch replied.

John was silent as he read the note.

"_Mr. Reese, is everything alright?" _

_Dear John,_

_Heh, funny, I never thought I'd be writing one of these. Anyway, I want to thank you for last night and apologize for leaving. I need to get away to clear my head and sticking around you and New York isn't exactly helping. Please don't take that the wrong way. I do like seeing you again now that we're no longer with the agency, but my head is clouded with so many feelings that I can't think properly. I'm sorry. I promise to return in a few days and whatever you do, don't come looking for me. This is something I have to do. Who knows, maybe once I return we can go out for a drink? I'll see you soon. _

_Love_

_Madeline_

"It looks like we'll be working alone for a while, Finch." John said with a hint of anger and hurt in his voice.

"_What do you mean?" _Finch inquired.

"Madeline's gone, and it doesn't look like she'll be returning anytime soon." John answered hanging up. He crumpled the note in his hand, and placed it in his pocket. He picked up the key and turned it over in his fingers before leaving Madeline's apartment and locking it.

~J~

Finch sat in the Library in silence after he got off the phone with Reese. He stared at the computer screens as the Machine tried to find them a new number. Finch looked down at his phone before calling Madeline. The line rang a few times before it clicked and Madeline's voice filled his ear.

"_Hello Harold."_ She greeted.

"Where are you?"

"_I believe you know where I am, but I don't want you coming to get me. I have to think things over before I do or say something that I'll probably regret."_

"If this is about your feelings for Mr. Reese…"

"_You know me too well, Harold. I'm glad to have a friend such as yourself." _

"I might be pushing it a little, but will you tell me where you are going?"

"_I'm going to see an old friend in England. I'll be staying with him too."_

"A him? That's interesting."

"_It's not like that Harold, besides he's not into women."_

"Oh I see."

"_Listen I have to go. If you need to reach me you know how to." _

"You will come back won't you?" Finch quietly asked.

"…_I-I will, I just don't know when. Watch after John for me, okay? Bye Harold." _

Finch lowered the phone as the call ended. He hung up the phone just as John walked into the room. "You arrived just in time. We have a new number…"

~J~

The flight to England was long, but Madeline was thankful for the first class ticket. She'd have to remember to thank Finch for the extra money in her account. Madeline grabbed her bag and exited the airport looking around for someone. A smile formed on Madeline's face when she found the person she was looking for. The man was skinny and had short blonde hair. He wore a pair of dark skinny jeans and a baby blue V-neck t-shirt with a pair of TOMS.

"Madeline, it's so good to see you again! When I got your call I couldn't help myself."

"It's nice to see you again too, Tyler. It's been what, six years?" Madeline said hugging the man.

"Six years is too long to go without seeing my cousin's girlfriend." Tyler winked.

"You know Justin and I weren't going out. We worked together and I thought of him as a brother." Madeline sighed.

Tyler laughed and led Madeline to a black BMW. He took her bag and placed it in the backseat while Madeline slid into the passenger seat. Tyler started the car and pulled away from the curb heading to his flat.

"So what made you decide to visit?" Tyler asked turning down the radio.

"Do I have to have a reason to see an old friend?" Madeline smirked.

"No, but I can tell something is bothering you." Tyler said keeping his eyes on the road.

Madeline sighed and leaned her head against the window. She stared at the cars and people passing by and couldn't help but think about the busy streets of New York and John. She shook her head and sighed.

"It's a guy isn't it?" Tyler asked.

"What?" Madeline asked surprised.

"The reason you came here is because of a guy." Tyler stated.

"Yeah...I haven't had a decent relationship since college."

"You're joking right?"

"Nope. I dated someone after I left my job, but that didn't turn out so well. He tried to kill me with his car."

"I'm sorry, Maddie. I didn't know." Tyler said looking at her. Madeline waved her hand and looked back out the window.

"It's all right. It's a thing of the past, besides I like this new guy."

"Well, what's his name? What is he like? How long have you known him?" Tyler asked.

"Slow down, Ty. But to answer your questions, his name is John and I have known him since I was in the CIA."

"So you two worked together?"

"Not really. We met once while on a job, but other than that nothing. I just don't know how to tell him how I feel. He lost someone close to him a year ago, an ex-girlfriend. I don't want to get my heart dead set on him only to have him reject me." Madeline replied.

Tyler pulled the car over and shut it off. Madeline turned to him confused. "Why are we stopping?"

"You need to go back. Tell him how you feel and if he says no, then he is missing out. You're a wonderful woman, Maddie. Any guy would be lucky to have you." Tyler said with a serious look.

Madeline stared at Tyler and cracked a small smile. "I knew I could count on you to tell me what I needed to hear."

"Good. Now, how about we get something to drink?" Tyler smiled.

"Full bar at your flat?" Madeline smiled in return.

"Hell yeah!" Tyler exclaimed. He started the car and sped away from the curb once more.

~J~

John stood in Madeline's apartment looking around. He walked over to the couch and sat down pulling the note from his pocket. It's been four days since Madeline left and he has yet to hear from her. He read the note over and over until he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Madeline's number. He listened as the phone was silent till it began to ring. John leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as the phone continued to ring.

"_Hello?"_ a man groggily said into the speaker.

John listened as the man said hello again before hanging up. He lowered the phone and set it on the table. The note was still clutched in his hand as he crumpled the paper again. John threw the note onto the table and walked to Madeline's room. When he entered his eyes landed on the bedside tables. He walked over to the one closest to him and pulled the drawer open. Inside sat a facedown picture frame and a journal. John picked up the picture frame and turned it over. The picture was of Madeline and two men, one of which he recognized as Justin.

"I don't think Madeline would appreciate you snooping around her room." Finch said from the doorway.

"She left me her spare key." John said holding up the key.

"I see. It doesn't mean you can go snooping around her personal items. I need to tell you something John."

"What is it, Finch?"

"It's the reason why she left."

John turned to Finch awaiting an answer. Finch stared at John before taking a seat on Madeline's freshly made bed. "She left because of you."

"Because of me? Why?"

"She cares about you, John. She just doesn't know how to come out and say it; not after how her last relationship ended. And if she finds out I told you, I'll never hear the end of it." Finch said.

John remained silent as he let Finch's words sink in.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts then, Mr. Reese." Finch stood and left the room.

"Why didn't you tell me, Madeline?" John muttered to himself cradling his head.

* * *

~J~

This one is short, but it is leading up to John and Madeline's relationship. Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review!


	12. Chapter 11

Here is the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy! :) And here is the link to Madeline's outfit at the end.

www. polyvore dot com /cgi/ set?id=61575648

Disclaimer: I only own Madeline, Justin and Tyler.

* * *

Madeline stumbled down the stairs of Tyler's raised bedroom; she was given the bed while he slept on the couch. The smell of toast, sausage and eggs wafted through the flat causing Madeline to wake. She walked into the kitchen while stifling a yawn and rubbing her eyes.

"Morning sleepy head." Tyler said from the stove. He pulled open one of the cupboards and grabbed a bottle of aspirin. "Here you might want some of these."

"Nah, I'm good. Unlike someone I can actually hold my liquor." She smirked taking a seat at the two person table.

Tyler turned off the burner and scooped the scrambled eggs onto a platter along with the sausage as the toast was already on the table. Madeline was chewing on a piece of toast when Tyler brought the plate over. She dropped the toast onto her plate and gathered some food.

"Isn't it about time for you to go back?" Tyler asked in between bites of food. "It's been five days already."

"Trying to get rid of me are you?" Madeline teased.

"No, but someone called your phone last night."

Madeline paused in eating. She lowered the fork and stared at her plate before shifting her eyes to Tyler's. "Do you know who it was?"

"They didn't speak."

They slipped into silence, except for the sound of forks hitting the plate and cups of tea and coffee hitting the table. A knock at the door brought the two friends from their thoughts. Tyler looked toward the door with furrowed eyebrows. Madeline glanced over and slowly stood up.

"Are you expecting anyone?" she whispered. Tyler shook his head and stood up. They walked toward the door as the knocking continued. He looked out the peep hole and gasped. Madeline came up behind him.

"Who is it?"

"You need to get out of here."

"What?"

"Just do it. Gather your things and take the first plane back to New York."

"Tyler what the hell is going on?" she demanded.

"There's no time. Just go now!"

She took a few steps back before turning and running up the stairs. She quickly gathered her things and changed into jeans, red tank top, a black hoodie and a pair of old converse. Madeline swung the bag over her shoulder and turned to leave. She found Tyler still standing by the door when the knocking ceased. Madeline stopped on the last stair and watched as Tyler looked out the peep hole again.

"Oh God." Tyler said. Before Madeline could ask a gun fired as Tyler fell onto the floor, dead.

"No…" Madeline whispered. "Damn it, pull yourself together. You have to get out of here."

There was a bang at the door as someone tried to break it down. Madeline spotted her phone on the coffee table and ran over to grab it. She ran for the emergency exit and tossed the bag to the ground before climbing down the ladder. Once she reached the bottom, she grabbed the bag and began running for the airport. Madeline slowed down when she saw the airport in the distance. She caught her breath and pulled out her phone dialing John's number.

"Hey John, I know it's late, but I need to talk to you about something. Please call me back when you get this."

~J~

Finch stood in the library grabbing his coat when his phone beeped with a message. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the message. It was from Madeline. He read it and then placed his phone back in his pocket as John's voice came over the earbud.

"_We're working Moretti's number, Finch. I need you at HQ."_

"The numbers don't wait in line, Mr. Reese. Be in touch." Finch said leaving the Library.

Madeline walked into the busy New York airport. She looked amongst the bustling people while grabbing her luggage. She made her way to the airport entrance when her phone beeped.

_Meet me at the library. We have a new number. – Finch._

"There's never a break is there?" she said with a shake of her head. She walked out the sliding glass doors and headed for her apartment.

The walk from the airport was long, but Madeline couldn't help feeling like she was being followed. She glanced over her shoulder every now and then but never say anything. She shrugged it off continued on her way when she saw a tan SUV pull up beside her with a familiar person sitting inside. The man with the scar smirked at her as he stopped by the curb.

"What do you want?" she glared.

"Elias sends his regards on your safe return from England. I see why the boss likes ya."

"Really? Why's that?" she asked curious. Madeline stepped back as he got out of the car and stood a little too close for comfort. She tried to take another step back but he grabbed her upper arm.

"You've got guts and you don't scare easily, like right now. Heh, I see what he meant about seeing a fire in your eyes."

"Then you should know not to play with fire."

"You'd make an excellent addition to the family. Who knows, Elias may even make you my second-in-command."

"I'd rather die than join Elias' so called 'family'." Madeline spat wrenching her arm out of his grip. She glared at him when the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

"Is everything alright over here?" Carter asked.

The man gave Madeline a smirk before turning to Carter and climbing into the SUV and speeding away. Madeline looked over at Carter and sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"No problem. I heard you left for England."

"Let me guess, a little bird told you." Madeline said.

"They're worried you were coming back." Carter told her as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Considering how abruptly I left, they had reason to. How's John been?" Madeline asked. Carter gave her a small smile and gestured to the Lyric Diner across the street. Madeline nodded and they made their way across the street and grabbed a booth near the front. They ordered some coffee and sat in silence.

"He's been acting different since you left. I don't know how to explain it. Oh, don't get me wrong he's been focused while working…if you can call it that, but something's just been off."

"I see." Madeline murmured taking a sip of the steaming hot coffee. She looked at Carter when she heard her phone beep.

"Sorry to cut this short." Carter said setting some money on the table.

"What happened?" Madeline asked.

"A baby's been kidnapped. They're putting out an AMBER alert as we speak. Take care." Carter said standing up.

"Hey Carter…thanks. It's nice to finally have another woman I can talk to." Madeline smiled.

"You're welcome." Carter smiled in return and left the diner.

~J~

The next morning Madeline sat on the island in her kitchen listening to the television and finishing her coffee. Her eyes shot up to the television when she heard the newscaster say something about an AMBER alert on a missing baby named Leila Smith. She hopped off the counter and walked toward the TV when they showed a picture of the man who was last seen with her. Madeline looked down at the floor and shook her head.

"You have got to be kidding me." She murmured grabbing her phone. Right as she picked it up it started ringing.

"The hell were you thinking kidnapping a baby?" she exclaimed.

"_Thanks for reminding me. The reason I called is I need you to head to the Library. John is there with Leila, but I'd feel better if you were there."_

"I can't believe you left her with John. Fine I'm on my way, but don't you dare call and tell him.

"_As you wish." _

The line beeped then disconnected. Madeline pocketed the phone and dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink before grabbing her keys and leaving.

~J~

Madeline walked up the stairs and pushed open the door to the main room. She walked down the hallway and heard cooing sounds and baby laughter. She entered the room and Leila surrounded by books and John making funny faces. He looked over with a smile that quickly dropped when his eyes landed on Madeline.

"Madeline…"

"Finch told me to come and check up on little Miss. Leila. Hi there sweetie." Madeline cooed squatting down. She smiled as Leila laughed and clapped her hands. John watched as Madeline played peek-a-boo with Leila causing her to laugh. Madeline smiled as Leila lifted her arms signaling she wanted to be held and picked her up. She position Leila on her right hip and turned to John.

"You never returned my call." She stated.

"I've been…busy." He said looking at her. Madeline rolled her eyes and walked around the room bouncing Leila as she went. John watched the two and saw the warm glow in Madeline's eyes as she talked to Leila. When Madeline turned around she stopped when she noticed John watching her. The door opening had Madeline tearing her eyes away from John and looking down the hallway.

"Seems like someone needs a diaper change. Have fun you two." Madeline said handing Leila over to John.

"Where are you going?" Finch asked.

"I get the sense that I shouldn't be here. If you need me you know how to reach me." She said closing the door behind her.

"What happened Mr. Reese?" Finch asked setting the bags down.

"Nothing."

Finch took Leila from John's arms and set her on the table as he grabbed a new diaper. "This flap here, that flap there. See? Neat and simple."

"I see your time at MIT wasn't wasted." John commented as Finch walked away when the computer beeped giving them the tax ID number from the anonymous donations.

~J~

Madeline stood with Carter waiting for John and Harold to show up. They both turned at the sound of women saying she was cute and if they could see her. Madeline sighed and hung her head.

"I told them not to bring her…" she muttered.

"They obviously don't listen." Carter said as they walked over to them. "You brought her with you? Every cop in the city is looking for that kid."

"I'm teaching her to go undercover. She's a natural." John said holding Leila's hand as his eyes traveled over to Madeline. Madeline looked away upon making eye contact with John.

"She's a little angel. If something happens to her John, so help me God…" Carter said looking away.

"We're trying to stop anything from happening. We know she was in a clinic funded by the Petrosian's and we know her mother used to work for the Petrosian's. So it's probable that the father is one of the Petrosian's."

"Why would mom end up dead?" Madeline asked.

"Probably agreed to put her up for adoption, but then changed her mind." Carter answered.

"Bump off mom, make the baby disappear. Problem solved."

"I'm going to talk to Claudia's parents. See if they know anything. In the meantime, I want you to follow Bradley Petrosian." Finch said looking at John. Carter walked away heading back to work and leaving the trio, plus one alone. Madeline clapped her hands together and spun on her heel heading in the opposite direction.

"Madeline, did something happen over there?" Finch asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"You just seem…disturbed."

"I'm all right, Harold. Thank you for your concern." Madeline said giving him a smile over her shoulder. "I'll keep the earbud in so you can reach me quicker. Have fun you two."

"Mr. Reese, I really think it wise for you to talk to her." Finch said once Madeline was out of earshot.

"We need to focus on Leila first." John said walking away with Leila while Finch went to Claudia's parents.

~J~

"How could you let her go?" John asked looking for Leila.

"I didn't. She knocked down the books and walked off." Finch said also looking for her.

"She can't walk, Finch."

"Oh, God. I'll never forgive myself."

John walked into another room and heard the sound of Leila cooing. He turned the corner and found Madeline holding Leila with one hand and a tear gas grenade in the other. She raised an eyebrow and tossed the grenade over to John who effortlessly caught it.

"You really shouldn't leave these at ground level. You never who will get to them." Madeline said.

"Have you got her?" Finch asked coming around the corner. He saw Madeline holding Leila and sighed in relief. "Thank God. I thought I told you to move your arsenal?"

"I was going to, Finch." John said rubbing a hand over his face.

"I think it would be better for Leila to stay with her grandparents."

"Wouldn't whoever went after Leila go after them too?" Madeline asked.

"Hence the reason why I have already sent them to a safe house." Finch said heading for the door with Leila.

Madeline stayed behind as John and Finch took Leila. She took a seat in Finch's chair and tapped her fingers against the wooden table. She reached out for the mouse when her phone's shrill ringing made her jump.

"What can I help you with now, Elias?" she said into the speaker.

"_We need to talk. I'll send someone to collect you." _

"What am I some prized possession?" Madeline said.

"_Possibly, and leave all electronics at home." _Elias said followed by the line cutting out. Madeline looked at her phone before setting it on the table. She walked out of the library and onto the sidewalk. She stood there for a few minutes before pulling her hoodie around her and walked away. Madeline made it a block away when a vehicle pulled up behind her.

"Took you long enough." She said turning around.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Scarface said with a smirk.

"Let's just get this over with. I have things to do." Madeline replied and climbed into the passenger seat.

The drive seemed excruciatingly slow and her company wasn't one to talk. She stared out the window as they pulled up under a bridge where Elias was standing. They climbed out and walked over when two men made a move to grab her.

"She's alright." Scarface said telling them to stand down.

"Madeline, it's so nice to see you again. How was your trip?"

"It could have ended better. Why am I here?" Madeline said crossing her arms to shield her from the cold.

"I just wanted to ask you to join us, plus I heard of your feelings for our friend John. Is that true?" Elias asked.

Madeline remained silent but the widening of her eyes confirmed it. Elias scoffed and walked closer to her.

"I could use that to my advantage, but I won't. Not unless I'm given a reason to." Elias said as his phone rang. "Well would you look who it is." He said showing her the caller.

"Hello John." Elias answered as Scarface came up behind Madeline. He pressed the chloroform covered rag over her mouth and nose waiting for it to knock her out. Madeline fought against him but he was too strong. She felt her body start to fall only to be caught as the darkness took over.

~J~

"What have you done to the baby?"

"She's right here, John."

"We had an agreement."

"But then I realized there is something you can do for me. Tell me where Moretti is."

"I don't know."

Elias walked closer to the truck. "This is a refrigerated truck, John. It'll get very cold in there. You'll be able to hold off for a few hours I imagine. This little one, on the other hand…Oh I almost forgot. Bring her around boys."

John watched as a man came around the truck with Madeline slung over his shoulder. He noticed she was missing her hoodie from earlier this morning and was only wearing her tank top, jeans and boots. The man climbed into the truck and dropped Madeline onto the floor before climbing back out.

"Elias, what did you do to her?" John asked sending him a glare.

"Just shout if you change your mind."

"Don't do this." John said as Leila began to cry. "Elias. Elias!" John shouted. Elias didn't listen as the door was slid closed leaving the three to the cold. John glances down at Leila who was still crying and then over to Madeline. She was still knocked out, but was beginning to move. He grabbed the pole and started yanking on it to get it to release. He grunted as he pulled it, but it barely budged.

"John…" Madeline said finally awaking.

"Madeline, what did they do to you?" John asked leaning against the wall.

"I don't know. All I know is Elias wanted to talk to me and then you called. That's all I remember." She said rolling over. She heard Leila crying as John was able to get the pipe to release. He looked over at her and then at Leila.

"Take care of Leila. I'll be fine. I promise." She said trying not to shiver. John gathered Leila in his arms and cradled her to his chest while he looked over at Madeline. She was busy rubbing her chest to keep warm while curling into a ball. She looked up and gave John a sad smile as she started to shiver.

"Madeline. Madeline!" John shouted.

"I'm okay John just worry about Leila."

"I'm going to get both of you out of here." He reassured her. Madeline nodded and tucked her chin into her chest as she continued rubbing. She felt herself warm up a little but it wouldn't last. Madeline caught John's eye and saw a pained look in them. She looked away as her body was overcome with uncontrollable shivering.

"Elias. Elias." John called.

"_Yes John?" _Elias answered over the baby monitor.

"All right. You win."

"_We both win, John. Where's Moretti?" _

"What guarantee do I have?"

"_You don't."_

"Fourteen sixty-five Jefferson. Queens."

"_Thank you John. You're right; I would never harm a child. But then I knew you wouldn't either. Goodby_e, _John."_

"Elias! Elias!" John shouted. They heard an engine start followed by the pinging of a key being dropped into the truck. John stood up and handed Leila over to Madeline while he removed the handcuffs and hit the latch of the door with the pole. He was able to get the door open and grabbed Leila while helping Madeline out of the back and to the front. She climbed into the passenger seat and curled up while John started the truck and blasted the heat. He shed his coat and draped it over Madeline.

"Thank you." She whispered clutching it closer.

"Come on, cry. Cry." He said blowing on Leila's hand. John puts the truck in drive and pulls out of the lot. The truck comes to a sudden stop as Finch's car stopped in front of them. John handed Leila back to Madeline who wrapped her in the coat. She gave John a nod before he left.

"You're alright, Leila. Everything's fine now." Madeline cooed.

She looked over as Finch climbed into the truck and looked at them. She gave him a smile letting him know she was okay before they left.

"I never should have left, Finch."

"You had a perfectly good reason for leaving. Besides, I knew you would come back. You always do in the end." He answered looking over at her. "John knows how you feel about him."

"He does?" she asked in shock.

"I may have told him…"

"Harold." Madeline drawled.

"He needed to know. I'd hate to see you hurt again."

"Thank you, Finch. You're like an older brother to me and I'm thankful for that." She said.

~J~

John and Madeline stood across the street as Finch handed Leila over to her grandparent's.

"She's gonna be a cute kid when she grows up." Madeline commented as Finch walked over to them.

"It'd be nice to have a child. Children. Think that'll ever happen?" John said. "Probably not. Our line of work…" he finished.

"Trouble with children, you never know how they're gonna turn out." Finch added.

"Come on let's get out of here." Madeline said climbing into the back seat.

Madeline stood in her kitchen cleaning her plate and coffee cup from earlier. She heard the front door open and close. A shadow appeared in the doorway and narrowly dodged a knife being thrown at them.

"You really shouldn't throw knives." John said pulling the knife from the wall.

"Sorry, I forgot I left a key." Madeline replied turning away.

"You said you needed to talk. So here I am." John said walking to her side.

"Finch already told you. That's all I was going to tell you." she muttered. John gently grabbed her upper arm and spun her around to face him. She didn't look up or say anything as she just stared at his chest. John's hand remained around her arm as they stood in silence. Madeline shifted her weight from her left foot to her right as she placed her hand on John's.

"Listen just tell me that you don't feel the same way, and then we can move on. I don't want to go through this again…" she said only to be cut off. She stared wide eyed as John's lips crashed onto hers. He pulled away and cupped her face.

"Does that answer your question?" John smirked.

"It'll have to do." She smirked back.

"It's about time you two." Finch said from the doorway.

Madeline blushed and turned toward the sink to hide it. John removed his hand and took a seat at the table. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Not a lot." Finch replied walking into the kitchen and taking a seat. Madeline took the seat in between them knowing they were planning something.

"All right, what's eating at you two?" she asked.

"I read a news report of a man being murdered in England. It's the same day you came home. His name was Tyler Browe." Finch responded looking over at Madeline.

"He was Justin's cousin. When we were given leave for a few days, Justin introduced me to him. We became friends and when I was given time off I'd go and visit. I didn't exactly have any family."

"Do you know who shot him?" John asked.

"No. I got out of there before the door was breached. I didn't want to stick around."

Finch didn't say anything and looked at the table. John looked over at him and furrowed his brow at Finch's wide eyes. Madeline followed John's gaze and found Finch fiddling with his hands.

"There's something you're not telling us, Finch." John said. Finch didn't reply as he looked up. He turned toward Madeline and pulled a picture from inside his pocket. He set it on the table and pushed it over to Madeline. She grabbed the picture and turned it over, her eyes widening at the image.

"No…" she whispered dropping the picture onto the table.

"I'm sorry, Madeline. I thought it would sound better coming from me." Finch finally said.

"He's supposed to be dead." She whispered. John reached over and picked up the picture taking a closer look at it. His eyes narrowing at the man.

"Justin…" he said slowly. He watched as Madeline pushed away from the table and went over to the sink. She leaned against it and let out the breath she had been holding. A tear fell down her cheek as John approached her. He went to pull her into a hug but she spun around with a look of angry on her face.

"I need to speak to Snow, now." She said in a dark tone.

* * *

~J~

Phew! I can't believe this is 12 pages long. I want to thank everyone for reviewing ( I meant to put this is the past few chapters) and following. I hope you all enjoyed the little twist I added! :D Let me know what you thought!


	13. Chapter 12

Here is the next chapter! Let me know what you think! Identity Crisis is the episode for this chapter, just so everyone knows.

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest, just Madeline.

~J~

* * *

"Madeline, confronting agent Snow wouldn't be in your best interest. For all we know he could still be after you and John."

Madeline stood in the bathroom fixing her hair while John leaned against the door frame and Finch sat on a futon. She finished putting the last bobby pin in her hair and did one last look over. She wore a black and white collision color cotton dress with a pair of black peep toe heels. Her make-up consisted of black eye liner and a clear lip gloss, nothing special but it worked.

"I promised to keep my phone on while I talked to him. And if anything goes wrong John will be nearby to help even though I believe that to be suicide." Madeline said flicking the light off in the bathroom and walking out.

"You should carry a gun with you just in case." John said walking up behind her.

"I'm one step ahead of you." She responded grabbing a black purse from the bed. She unzipped it and pulled out a glock 26. "See?" she smirked.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, Madeline." Finch spoke up. Madeline turned toward him, slinging the purse over her shoulder.

"Harold, I promise I will be fine. If you want we can go somewhere being monitored by your cameras. I can hold my own against Snow; I've done it before and I'm pretty sure he still remembers." She winked heading out of the bedroom.

John and Finch followed behind her and out of the apartment. Finch separated from the group to head for the Library while John and Madeline made their way to the one place Snow frequented. They stopped a good distance from the Lyric Diner as they watched Snow talk to his partner outside.

"You don't have to do this. Finch can find another way to…" John started to say only to be cut off.

"I need answers and I want them now. It's a public place and if he tries to pull the CIA bullshit, I can play it too." She said pulling her old CIA identification from her purse. "Don't even say it, John." She stopped him again as he opened his mouth.

He smirked as Madeline turned around and headed for the diner. He watched as she ascended the stairs and pulled open the door and disappears inside.

Once inside the diner, Madeline quickly found Snow and walked over, taking a seat on the opposite side of the booth. Snow gave her a smirk as he took in her outfit.

"How nice of you to dress up for once." He said leaning back against the seat.

"Don't get used to it. I'm not particularly fond of dresses." She replied crossing her right leg over her left under the table.

"Now to what do I owe this pleasure of seeing you? It's been what…six years?"

"You lied to me about Justin." She said giving him a cold stare. Snow was silent as he processed her words. The

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"Justin Browe, my former partner, is alive. You told me he was dead. Why did you lie to me?"

"He's dead." Snow stated.

"Then tell me why he's in this picture." Madeline glared as she pulled the folded picture out and slid it across the table. She leaned forward and crossed her arms on the table as she watched Snow unfold the picture. The look on his face was well concealed, but she could see the surprise in his eyes.

"That's not possible. I personally checked the man's pulse and there was nothing."

"You better not be lying to me."

The diner became silent as the bell above the door rang. Madeline saw Snow glance over her shoulder, making brief eye contact with whoever was at the door. She made to turn around but Snow stopped her.

"Whether you want to believe it or not, Justin is dead. And if he is alive, he's not with the CIA anymore. That's all I can say. Now if you don't mind I need to get back to Connecticut." He said before standing up and leaving.

"Connecticut?" Madeline asked, but Snow didn't hear her. Madeline looked at the table, her fists clenched under the table. She turned to the window and saw Snow and Evan's get into their vehicle and drive off. She went to place some money on the table only to see Snow had beaten her to it. A small smile worked its way onto her face. She stood up and exited the diner, walking over to John.

"How'd it go?" he asked when she was by his side.

"It was a dead end…" she replied crossing her arms.

"_If you two are done, we've got a new number." _Finch said.

~J~

"Good morning, Mr. Reese, Madeline." Finch said as they walked into the Library.

John was carrying a box of donuts and a cup of coffee and tea while Madeline sipped from her cup.

If you say so." John replied.

"Any croquillants in there?" Finch asked turning to face them.

"If that's a donut, then yes. So, what do we got?

"Nothing much, unfortunately. The machine kicked out a number that has one of the smallest digital footprints I've ever seen." Finch said taking a bite of his donut.

Madeline took a seat, still sipping from her cup as she listened to John and Finch converse.

"No photos?"

"Not everyone in New York has a driver's license, Mr. Reese. First three digits of the social suggest that Jordan Hester was born in Georgia."

"I'm supposed to recognize him by his accent?"

"We." Madeline corrected.

"Or her. I can't even verify the gender. Hester's living off the grid. No photos online and nothing on the social networking sites."

"Never understood why people put all their information on those sites. Used to make our job a lot easier in the CIA."

"A lot easier." Madeline agreed.

"Of course. That's why I created them."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Madeline asked leaning forward.

"You're telling me you invented online social networking, Finch?" Reese asked standing up.

"The machine needed more information. People's social graph, their associations. Government had been trying to figure it out for years. Turns out most people were happy to volunteer it. Business wound up being quite profitable too."

Madeline shook her head and tossed her empty cup into a nearby garbage can. She turned toward the computer and saw Finch scrolling through the people search online."

"Unfortunately, Jordan Hester seems to be more cautious than most. But I was able to run a credit check." Finch said turning to the clear board with papers taped to it. Madeline stood up and walked over to the board to read the papers. Her eyes scanned over the papers quickly, taking in two of everything; she furrowed her brow.

"According to this, Hester has two of everything. Two bank accounts, two apartments, two phone bills." John said beating her to the punch.

"If I had to guess, which you know I hate doing…I'd say we're looking at a person leading a double life."

"Or a possible case of two people with the same name?" Madeline added.

"Possibly, but we don't know for sure." Finch said.

"Can't cover them both. Time for you to get some fresh air. I'll call Carter; see if our guy or girl has a criminal record."

"Is that a good idea?" Finch asked as John dialed Carter's number. "Detective Carter's not exactly your number one fan right now."

"I'm guessing it has something to do with Moretti?" Madeline asked Finch. He merely nodded before taking his jacket from John and heading out.

~J~

Madeline followed John to one of Hester's apartments while Finch checked out the other. She had changed from the dress into a pair of black jeans, a dark blue button-up blouse with ¾ inch sleeves and black riding boots. It was better than walking or running around in heels all day.

"_I'm at the apartment in the Village, Mr. Reese. Are you at two at the one in Brooklyn?" _

"Just arrived, Finch." Madeline answered as they stood outside.

"_Any sign of Hester at your location?" _

"It'd help if we knew what we were looking for." John replied entering the apartment building. Madeline followed John upstairs.

"Last one in pays for lunch." John said. Madeline rolled her eyes.

"Just so you both know I'm not going to be paying." She said holding up her hands.

"_I'm in the mood for Indian. Any response from Detective Carter?" _

"Still not answering my calls. Maybe you should try her."

"_Carter's issue isn't with you, Mr. Reese. It's with your methods. Our methods. Not to mention that you gave up a witness under her protection and nearly got a cop killed in the process."_

"Not everyone's perfect, Finch."

"_This is very Bohemian. Maybe Hester's an artist or a writer."_

"Are you sure about that, Finch?" Madeline asked as she looked around the sparsely furnished room. It only consisted of a mattress, a desk, some free weights and nothing else; almost as if it belongs to a guy.

"_Maybe it's Hester's office?" _

"More like gym…" Madeline muttered.

"In a different apartment building?" John asked opening a drawer and pulling out a rolled wad of cash. Madeline walked over and looked at it then up at John. "Found a money roll marked with Hester's initials. Mostly small bills though."

Madeline knelt down and went through the garbage can next to the desk, but all she found was some receipts. "There's some receipts in the garbage." She said handing one up to John. He unfolded it and it.

"The Hammer 'n' Nail.' That pub is just around the corner from here. Receipt shows an employee discount. Money could be from a tip pool. We're gonna go check it out."

"_If he lives and works in Brooklyn, what's this place for?" _

John and Madeline walked side by side to the pub. John held the door open for Madeline and followed her inside as the sound of rock music played over the speakers. John scoped the room and only saw a few people seated inside. The woman bartender walked over.

"What can I get ya?" she asked.

"Whatever's on tap." John answered for them both. Madeline nodded to the woman and gave her a small shrug.

"Hester! What's taking you so long?" the bartender, Maggie called. A man appeared from a back room carrying boxes; the apartment they just left definitely wasn't a woman's.

"They were under a bunch of other boxes." They heard Hester say.

"Finch, we've got eyes on Hester. He's working as a bar back.

"_How can he afford to keep up the rent on both places?"_

"He has a point. A low paying job, plus two apartments? The money has to be coming from somewhere else." Madeline added.

_Mr. Reese, you may have eyes on Hester, but I have ears on her." _Finch whispered.

"What?" John asked.

"_Jordan Hester. She's here in her apartment. This isn't one person living a double life."_

"It's two people living one." John said turning to Madeline. They turned back to Hester before leaving the pub.

"Do you think they know about each other?" Madeline asked once they were outside, heading for the library.

"Most likely not." John responded.

"Great…"

~J~

Madeline sat in Finch's chair as they waited for him to return. They had been waiting for a little over thirty minutes, or at least Madeline was since John left her to get Finch; only he returned without him. She asked John where he was but he didn't answer her, except for the small smirk on his face. That's when she heard a squeaking sound behind her. She turned around and saw a drenched Finch, looking none too happy.

"Oh my god, what happened to you?" she asked. He didn't answer her as he slowly walked into the room, keeping his eyes on John.

"Welcome back." John said.

"I suppose I should thank you…for making them evacuate the building."

"Thank the automatic sprinkler system." John said grabbing a towel from the table and tossing it to Finch. Madeline wondered what the towel was for, and now she knew.

"Really John? Was that the only way to get him out of there?"

"It worked didn't it?"

Madeline rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall.

"So we still have no idea who Jordan Hester is."

"Well at least we narrowed it down."

"Two people, one Social Security number. Only one can be Hester so someone is an imposter."

"Good luck with that…" Madeline spoke.

"Usually when a machine gives us a number we have only twenty four to forty eight hours before something happens." Finch said taking a seat at the computer, towel around his neck.

"Shouldn't we be able to track down a birth certificate?" John asked.

"They're difficult to get a hold of, especially long-form birth certificates since they aren't digitized anywhere." Madeline explained. She looked over at Finch and found him staring. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said with a small smile.

"We're not dealing with a typical identity thief, are we?"

"No, normally they would steal your money and go on a shopping spree. This one's stealing a whole life." Finch said pulling up bank statements.

"Could one of them be running away or hiding from something? Did you get anything from Hester's laptop?" Madeline inquired pushing away from the wall.

"Emails and contact lists. Nothing that indicates she's not the real Jordan Hester."

"I blue-jacked our guy's phone, went through his recent calls. Seems he rented a van last week."

"Maybe he's finally buying some furniture." Finch said.

Madeline couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. She stifled it with her hand when she received a look from John. She removed her hand from her mouth and walked forward.

"We'll need to keep eyes on both of them until we figure this out."

"Will the real Jordan Hester please stand up?" Finch asked.

~J~

John had Madeline come with him as he met with Lionel. She had already met Carter, so now it was time to meet him. She sat at the bar with John as they waited for Lionel to show. John kept his eyes on Hester in case anything happened. Madeline heard the door open and peered over her shoulder. She caught the man's eye before turning back around.

"Hello, Lionel." John said.

"Who's this?" Lionel asked pointing at Madeline.

"Work colleague, call me Madeline. It's nice to finally meet you Fusco." She replied giving him a smile.

"Now why can't you smile more like her? I bet people would like you better." Lionel said to John as he ate a French fry.

"Nice job handing Moretti over to Elias."

"I had no choice."

"Well you got HR buzzing. Don't worry though. I'm close to finding the major players."

"I didn't ask you here to talk about HR. I've got an assignment for you. I need you to dig up everything you can on Jordan Hester."

"You got me doing undercover for HR…now you want me above the board too? Make up your mind."

"I didn't realize it was my job to make yours easier, Lionel."

"Good cop, bad cop, it's my life we're playing with."

"It's not your life I'm focused on right now, is it? Someone needs our help." John slid two pictures over to Lionel. Madeline leaned forward against the bar waiting.

"Which one?" Lionel asked.

"Exactly."

"I'll see what I can do."

Madeline stopped Lionel before he could leave. "Thank you." She said with a sincere expression. He gave her a nod before leaving.

"He's right you know. You could try being just a little bit nicer." Madeline said with a small.

"But where's the fun in that?" John asked.

She tuned out John as he talked to Finch until John stood up and left. "Uh Finch, where's he going?"

"_To check out another apartment. Stay with your Jordan Hester until further notice." _

"Great…" she muttered. The bartender walked over and asked her if she'd like something to drink. Madeline ordered a beer and continued to watch Hester.

~J~

Madeline was brought from her thoughts as John's voice filled her ear.

"_Don't know which Hester it belongs to, but I got an idea what they're mixed up in. I'm standing in the middle of an MDMA lab."_

"Ecstasy?" she said out loud.

"_Are you sure?"_ Finch asked.

"_Well, it's either that or someone's really into chemistry. Found a guy who can tell us what's going on. But he's not really in a talking mood right now. Looks like I'm going to have more company soon."_

Madeline sighed and downed the rest of her beer. She waved the bartender over for one more, hoping John would return soon.

"_At least we know why our ID thief stole Hester's name. MDMA can be made with legal chemicals, but they're monitored. Buy in bulk, you draw attention. But if you use someone's name…"_

"_They wind up holding the bag."_ John finished.

"_Looks like your Hester's not the only one who's employed. Jordan's e-mails indicate that she works in antiques. Maybe as a buyer or a dealer._

"_Jordan? Are you on a first-name basis already, Finch?" _

"_No, I'm just tired of using pronouns."_

"Ah yes, the infamous pronouns." Madeline commented.

A few minutes later, John walked into the pub and sat down. He pulled out his phone and pulled up the camera feed he planted. Madeline leaned over his shoulder for a closer look.

"Hey, Finch, our ecstasy cook just woke up."

They watched the feed in silence as the men left.

"Hester's name is on the lease for that co-op. Odds are either your Hester or mine is the boss. We need to stay close."

"_Oh dear, I think I just lost her." _

"You're kidding right, Finch?" Madeline asked as she looked at John.

"Why are you talking to her?" John asked. "Or she knows you're tailing her. She circled back for a closer look." Madeline set her glass down as she watched Hester leave.

"Finch, Hester's on the move. He could be meeting up with the cooks." John said hanging up and following Hester. Madeline quickly jumped to her feet and followed after them.

"_Mr. Reese, what did that cook look like? Big, kind of terrifying?" _

"Not even close."

Madeline watched Hester hanging around a van. She took in his attire and furrowed her brow.

"A drug dealer doesn't dress like that. It would be too obvious…" she stated.

"_If we've mistaken her for a drug dealer, isn't it possible someone else has too?"_

"Anything's possible, Finch. Did you bring a weapon?"

"You know he doesn't like weapons, John." Madeline answered.

"Well, you'd better be prepared to talk them to death and you'd better do it fast. Because I think I know which one of them is the imposter. Which means your Hester is in trouble." John hung up afterwards.

Madeline leaned against the wall, watching as the two men from the video feed approached Hester. She pushed away from the wall.

"Our Hester is the drug dealer." John told Finch. Madeline wasn't convinced, it shouldn't have been that easy. Or could it?

"_And your drug dealer has placed the real Jordan Hester in danger."_

~J~

They watched as the barrels in Hester's van were unloaded when John's phone rang. She glanced over at him before turning back to the men. Madeline cocked her head to the side as she saw Hester take a gun from the van and check to see if it was loaded before placing it in the waistband of his jeans.

"Not just yet. Hester, or whatever his name is, is serious about protecting his identity. Maybe serious enough to kill."

"Who are you talking to?" Madeline mouthed. John ignored her.

"Which means you need to find out how he stole her identity." John said looking up at the apartment building.

"Are we going to stand here all day or are we going inside?" Madeline asked crossing her arms. John smirked at her walked around her and across the street to Hester's van. Madeline ran to catch up with him, silently cursing her short stature compared to John's. She stood outside the van as John climbed in and shut the door. She saw him pick up a computer of the corner of her eye.

"_Guy takes his computer with him everywhere. He's even more careful than you are, Finch. I might need a little help cracking his—Never mind. Laptop's not password-protected. Guess he's not as careful as I thought, Finch. Okay, not seeing any secret accounts full of drug profits or message about business." _

"What about his search history?" Madeline asked.

"_Since when do seasoned drug dealers need how-to tips from the Internet?" _John said turning to Madeline. She turned back and gave him a confused expression. John climbed out of the car and headed for the building with Madeline trailing behind.

"John, what we got this backwards? What if the Hester Finch is following is the imposter?" she asked as the waited down the hall.

"Then we better hope we were right." John answered looking at the live feed. She leaned against the wall waiting. She heard the guys saying something wasn't right and that they had to leave, but when they asked for skylights and phosphorus in the new lab, the response wasn't what they wanted. Madeline cursed,

"John, phosphorus is used to make meth, not ecstasy. They're on to him."

John informed Finch that his Hester was the drug dealer as he approached the room, Madeline beside him. John burst into the room with Madeline.

"Boss, boss, the cops are outside. Everybody grab what they can." John said acting natural.

"That's the guy that knocked me out."

John punched the man in the face, sending him to the floor. Madeline took out the second guy, sending him over the island and onto the floor. She grabbed his gun and turned around as the sound of another was cocked.

"We don't have time for this; we know you're the real Jordan Hester." John said lowering his hands.

"Then you know I'm not going anywhere." Jordan said. "Tell me who you two are."

"Who we are doesn't matter right now. What matters is we know who you are." John said.

"Who am I, then? Stay back. I will shoot you."

"Oh really? The safety's still on, genius." Madeline said.

"No offense, but we're surprised you fooled these guys as long as you did. Is that really how you think a drug dealer dresses? We know you're the real Jordan Hester. We know your life was stolen. I even know who stole it." John said tossing a pair of ties to Madeline. She walked over and wrapped the ties around the man's wrists as John tied the other.

"Well, who stole it?"

"First things first. What exactly was your plan? You were accused of being a drug dealer. So then you decided to become one?"

"Well, no one would believe."

"So you decided this was the best way to do things?" Madeline asked moving out of John's way as he dragged the man over.

"And I was always a bit of an introvert, you know? A private person."

"Yeah, we know the type."

"I never thought that I would be punished for it. My old boss, the police. People hear you're a drug dealer, they stop listening to you. When have you ever hit bottom?"

Madeline glanced over at John who didn't say anything, but the expression on his face did.

"I never realized how far down I could go. After a while I figured, if people keep thinking I'm this bad guy…why do I keep trying to convince them that I'm not?"

"Because you're not." Madeline interjected.

"Someone stole your identity, so you decided to steal theirs." John said.

"Well, yeah, but only long enough to destroy this lab. That's nitric acid, not safrole."

"That's actually pretty good…" she muttered.

"It'll melt all this into mush, destroy this equipment. Then I was gonna take the rest of the supply, about a half a million dollars' worth…to lure that bastard out into the open."

"And then what, kill him?"

Madeline looked between the two as she was beginning to wonder why she hadn't heard from Finch.

"I don't want to kill anybody. I just want my identity back."

"Okay. It's a terrible plan. But I like it, so let's do it." John said with a smirk. "Oh. First thing you need to know, the bastard isn't a he, she's a she. Finch, are you there?"

"_I most certainly am."_ Finch said sounding funny.

"You need to get out of there. He wasn't planning to kill her. She must still be planning to kill him."

"_Why, I never."_

"Finch?" Madeline asked concerned.

"Finch, we've got this end under control. We're preparing a surprise for our mutual friend."

"_Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens, published 1864-65. The plot turns on a case of concealed identity! How ironic. Hey, do you have a copy?"_

"What?" John asked confused, "Finch, are you all right?"

"_Never been all righter, but I might have been outfoxed. Finch outfoxed."_

"Finch, what's going on?"

"_Wow. Wow, wow."_

"What the hell are you doing? Fin.." John asked only to be met with silence. "Finch?"

"He has to be drugged, John. That's the only reason he could be acting like that." Madeline explained. John called Fusco and gave him the direction of Finch's location.

~J~

"Good. Thanks, Lionel. I'll cal you soon as we're clear. Let's go." John said.

Jordan and Madeline grabbed a bag heading for the door when they're stopped.

"Don't move. Drop the bags. Drop the bags."

Each one dropped the bags as the imposter Jordan Hester entered the room. Madeline stared at her as she stared back and smiled.

"I wasn't expecting to see another woman here. I'm sorry I have to kill you, but you've seen too much."

"Oh don't worry; I've been through a lot worse." Madeline smirked causing the imposter to frown.

"Kill them all." She said leaving the room.

Madeline glanced over at John and smirked before fighting off the two guys. John tossed a 'chemical' into one of the guy's eye and knocked him out, as Madeline hit the other in the solar plexus followed by kicking one of his knees, dislocating it. She blew a strand of hair from her eyes and found John standing in front of her.

"What? Doesn't everyone go for the knee?"

John just shook his head before calling Lionel. Madeline walked around the room as John talked to Fusco. John hung up and turned to Madeline and Hester.

"Ready to find out whom Mary really is?" John asked. Hester nodded and followed John and Madeline out of the room and to a restaurant. Madeline stood outside while John and Hester confronted Tara before the cops arrested her. John emerged from the restaurant with Hester following behind.

"You're identity's been returned, so what are you going to do?" Madeline asked.

"Try and get my life back together as best I can. I don't know how to thank you two."

"We help people; it's what we do. Take care of yourself." She smiled as Jordan turned and walked away. "Speaking of taking care of someone, we need to get Finch."

~J~

"Drink this; it will keep you from dehydrating." John said handing Finch a case of water. Madeline grabbed a blanket and handed it to John who handed it to Finch.

"Are you two staying?" Finch asked still dazed. John looked over at Madeline for an answer. She walked up to Finch and turned him around.

"We'll stay until to keep an eye on you. Don't need you doing anything you'll regret in the morning. Now off to bed, Harold." Madeline said steering him toward the couch.

"Don't you want to ask me anything?"

"What?" John asked walking up behind Madeline.

"Come on. Ask me anything."

"Get some sleep, Finch.

Okey dokey."

Madeline silently chuckled as she made sure Finch was comfortable before joining John in one of the sitting rooms. He was sitting on the couch reading a book when she entered. She walked over to one of the many bookcases and scanned over the book titles. She grabbed Charles Dickens, _Our Mutual Friend_ and sat down beside John. She started reading, but sleep started to overcome her; the last thing she remembered was her head landing on John's shoulder.

* * *

~J~

The next chapter won't have anything to do with the next episode of POI, and I might add a little more about Madeline's background in the next chapter, and of course her and John. Stay tuned and don't forget to review! :D


	14. Chapter 13

Let me know what you think! A little bit more about Madeline and some action! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Person of Interest, just Madeline and Justin~

**Edited: 11/1/12: I fixed it up and established that John and Madeline are in fact dating. (Thanks to msgemgem for letting me know.) Sorry for making any/everyone confused about that. D: **

~J~

* * *

The next morning Madeline awoke to find her back pressed into the back of the couch where she sat last night. An arm was draped over her side as her head rested on John's chest, listening to his heartbeat. She looked up and  
found him awake.

"What time is it?" she asked sitting up and running a hand through her tousled hair.

"8:15 AM. Glad to see you've rejoined the world of the living." Finch answered from the next room.

"How does he do that?" Madeline whispered sitting up.

"I'll have to get back to you on that." John replied standing up from the couch.

Madeline stretched her arms over her head, popping her back in the process. She let out a sigh of content before joining John and Finch by the computers. She was surprised to find the board empty and turned her gaze to Finch. He turned to look up at her.

"The machine doesn't have a new number for us. You're both free for the day, but I will call you if something comes up."

"What about you? Are you just going to stay inside all day?" Madeline asked.

"Oh no, I have other plans for today. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late." Finch said pushing away from the desk and standing up.

Madeline shuffled out of his way and watched as he grabbed his jacket and exited the room. She turned back to John who was look through something on the computer.

"You do know if he finds out you're being nosey, it won't end well." She said walking backwards toward the door.

"Aren't you a little bit curious as to what he does in his free time?" John asked not looking at her.

"Not particularly. What Finch does in his free time is none of my business, nor is it yours. Keep that in mind for next time." Madeline said turning around and leaving.

"Where are you off to?" John called.

"Home for a shower then visiting an old friend." She called back opening the gate. She walked down the stairs and maneuvered around the scattered books on the floor before exiting out the old library entrance.

~J~

The bathroom filled with music as Duran Duran's "Hungry like the Wolf" played. Madeline rinsed the tangerine smelling shampoo from her hair and applied conditioner, quickly washing it out. She turned the silver knob shutting off the water and reached a hand out to grab her towel. Her hand brushed the fluffy white towel and pulled it around her. Madeline stepped out of the shower and dried herself off before pulling on a matching pair of underwear and bra. She grabbed the grey jeans and pulled them on, followed by the grey tank top.

The song changed to a Volbeat's "A Warrior's Call." Madeline grinned remembering it was Lacey who turned her on to the song. She ran a brush through her hair before blow drying and straightening it. She applied some foundation and powder, finishing it off with some black eyeliner. Satisfied with her appearance, Madeline grabbed the teal Kismet cowl top and pulled it over her head. She turned off the iPod dock station and exited the bathroom heading for the closet. She reached in and grabbed a pair of Steve Madden ankle boots and slipped them on. Madeline exited her room as she was fastening a silver watch bracelet on her wrist, but stopped when there was a knock at her door. She walked over and peered through the peephole before pulling the door open.

"Hey Maddie, it's been a while." Lacey beamed walking inside.

"That is has, come on in. Let me grab my phone and wallet and then we can head out." Madeline said walking over to the dining room table. She slipped her phone into her back pocket along with her wallet, and headed back to the front door. She reached for her keys but they weren't on the table.

"Looking for these?" Lacey innocently asked swinging the keys back and forth. Madeline shook her head and snatched them from Lacey when she least expected it.

"Hey!" Lacey protested.

"Do you honestly think I would trust you to remember to lock my door?" Madeline joked.

"That was one time! I've gotten better about making sure everything's locked before I leave. You can even ask my grandma."

"Mhmm, sure, whatever you say. So what's on the agenda for today?" Madeline asked as they reached the sidewalk.

"I figured we could grab something to eat and then go shopping before hitting the flower shop."

"How about shopping first and then we can eat? It's not fun trying on clothes after you just got done eating." Madeline suggested.

"Fine, we'll do it your way today." Lacey playfully groaned. Madeline nudged the younger girl with her elbow and laughed as she stumbled. Lacey went to shove Madeline but she ended up missing. Madeline chuckled as she dodged more of Lacey's failed attempts at hitting her only to end up running into someone.

"I'm sorry about – John?" Madeline blinked realizing who she had run into. She saw the all-knowing look of who-is-he Lacey was giving her. She ignored her and turned her head back to John.

"Madeline, what a pleasant surprise, I hope I'm not interrupting." He smiled.

"Actually…" Madeline started to say but was cut off by Lacey.

"We were just going shopping and then out to lunch. Would you like to tag along?" Lacey smiled. "After all, a friend of Madeline's is always welcome, especially if he's as handsome as you."

"We're you the one who wanted a girl's day?" Madeline asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks and I'll take you up on your offer." John replied.

"Wait, wait, say what?" Madeline stammered eyeing John suspiciously.

"You know what now that I think about it; he could be our body guard Maddie." Lacey commented.

Madeline groaned and hung her head; Lacey didn't even know how close she was to John's job. She lifted her head and gave John a hard stare before softening it. "Fine, now can we get going?"

~J~

Madeline kept a close eye on John as they walked around the shops. Lacey would drag her from one end of the store to another, piling clothes in the older woman's arms and forcing her to try them on. Madeline and Lacey laughed as they both exited the dressing room and found out they had tried on the same outfit. The day went by quickly but it was nice for a change. Madeline stepped out of the dressing room holding the bundle of clothing items she wanted to buy. She found John standing off to the side waiting for them. She placed the items she didn't want on the rack before heading over to him.

"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" she asked once she was by his side.

"No, why do you ask?"

"Oh I don't know because you purposefully had me run into you earlier. If you wanted to spend time with me all you had to do was ask." Madeline smirked. She let out a small squeak when John pulled her close and leaned forward.

"Don't be alarmed, but we're being followed." He said before kissing her. Madeline heard the sound of footsteps passing by them before disappearing. John ended the kiss and straightened up, putting an arm around Madeline's waist. Madeline scoped out the area but didn't see anything.

"I hope I didn't interrupt." Lacey said from Madeline's right.

"Uh…No, you're not." Madeline replied, "Ready to check out?"

"Finally, I'm starving!" Lacey said grabbing Madeline's wrist and dragging her to the register. Madeline glanced back at John and saw him trying to hide a smile. She smiled at him before turning to the cashier and paying for the clothes.

Once everything was bought and paid for Lacey led the trio to a nice Italian restaurant. John held the door open for the women before following Madeline inside. They were seated by the windows and handed a menu. Madeline made sure the bags were safely under the table before opening her menu. The waiter came by a few minutes later and took their order. Madeline folded the menu and handed it to the waiter who thanked her before leaving. She glanced over to John before looking out the window.

"So how do you two know each other?" Lacey curiously asked.

"We're dating…"

"We work together." John said at the same time.

"Isn't it against the rules to date a co-worker?" Lacey inquired with a smile.

"Our boss doesn't mind. He's…" Madeline started to say.

"He's a private person." John interrupted. Madeline gave him a confused look, but brushed it aside; she'd ask him about it later. She looked up as the waiter brought their drinks. She gently took the glass from his hand and took a sip once he left.

"You know Maddie; I think our waiter likes you." Lacey said setting her glass of Negroni down.

"Are you sure it's not you he likes?" Madeline teased. "Besides he'd have to get through John first, and that's not going to happen."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's you. Mmm, have you ever had one of these before? It's delicious." Lacey replied taking another sip from her glass. "I definitely like the burnt orange flavor."

"Do you know what's all in it?"

"No, why do you? Please tell me you do." Lacey pleaded grabbing Madeline's arm.

"It's equal parts Gin, Bitter Campari and Red Martini. Shake it with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. As for the burnt orange flavor, they get that by holding a flame above the glass and squeeze the orange peel. That's how you make it." Madeline answered grabbing one of the breadsticks. She looked up and found Lacey and John both staring at her. "What?"

"Are you sure you never worked in a bar before?" Lacey asked tilting her head.

"Oh look food's here." Madeline said ignoring Lacey's question. She spared a glance at John and saw him smirking.

~J~

Madeline set her knife and fork on her empty plate and handed it over to the waiter. She grabbed her glass and finished her Bellini. Madeline heard John's phone start to ring; she had an idea who it was. John answered the phone. She saw his eyes dart over to her before darting away again. Madeline was confused, had another number come up? Or was it something else? She waited until he hung up before speaking.

"What's up?"

"It was just Lionel checking in."

"For what?" she asked.

"Just a little side job I'm having him do." John replied, "If you two will excuse me I need to go meet with someone."

Lacey said goodbye to John before she grabbed the bill. She opened the billfold and found it had already been paid.

"Did you pay this?" Lacey asked handing it to Madeline.

"Nope."

"Well that's strange…One last stop and then we are done." Lacey said standing up and grabbing her bags. Madeline grabbed her bags and followed Lacey out of the restaurant.

"Lace, how about we drop our bags off at my place? It will be one less thing we have to carry around. Besides the flower shop is near my apartment."

"Sure, sounds good."

Madeline led the way to her apartment building when she caught a glimpse of someone watching them from an alleyway. She stopped walking and turned back to the alley to see no one was there. She shook her head and caught up to Lacey. They took the elevator up to Madeline's floor. Lacey waited by the elevator as Madeline took the bags and set them inside the door. She locked the door again and got back in the elevator.

The two headed toward the flower shop and picked out two bouquets of roses. Madeline carried one of the bouquets as they made their way to the cemetery. Madeline couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. She kept glancing around trying to see anyone suspicious. When they reached the cemetery Lacey led Madeline to a middle lot and knelt down in front of the tombstone.

"Hey mom, dad. As promised I brought Madeline with me this time. She's the one who worked with grandma and me at the bookstore."

Madeline knelt down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's nice to finally meet you two. Lacey's told me so much about you. You've got a great daughter, even if she's terrible at math. I promise to keep an eye on her for you two." Madeline said with a smile as she gave Lacey a noogie.

Madeline stood up and walked over to the other side of the cemetery. She walked amongst the rows of graves until she reached the very end. She stood in front of the last grave in the row and knelt down. Madeline set the second bouquet of roses on the tombstone and ran her finger over the name. _Katherine Simmons, beloved mother and wife. _

"Hi mom, I know it has been a while since my last visit but I'm here. I'm no longer with the agency, as you most likely already know if you're still watching over me. I met someone that I think you'd have liked; his name is John." She paused, plucking a long piece of grass, "He's ex-special forces. I guess I have you to thank for me always falling for military men. So thank…"

A noise behind her caught her attention. She sprung up to her feet and whirled around ready to attack.

"Damn it, Lacey. How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me?" Madeline sighed lowering her arms.

"Sorry, sorry. It won't happen again I swear." Lacey said holding up her hands. "I take it this is your mom? Katherine is a nice name."

"She was a young mom but she was an amazing woman. I wouldn't be here today if she hadn't pushed me to be successful. It was either that or she was going to send me to military school…" Madeline said.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did she die?"

"Killed in action, I was sixteen when I heard the news. The two Marine's showing up on our doorstep was the saddest day of my life. I never expected it to happen…"

"What about your father?" Lacey asked but soon regretted it. If looks could kill, whoever Madeline's father was would be six feet under by now.

"I haven't talked to him since I turned eighteen. He turned to the bottle for support and pushed his own daughter away. I don't even know where he is."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know. It's getting late; don't you have a plane to catch in the morning?" Madeline asked turning away from the grave.

"Shit… I totally forgot! And I still have to pack!" Lacey exclaimed. Madeline chuckled and steered her friend back to her apartment to grab her bags and be on her way.

~J~

"Have a safe flight!" Madeline called down the hallway as Lacey waved back. She closed the apartment door and threw the locks. She walked over to the couch and sat down slipping off her shoes. She sank into the couch when a noise of something hitting the floor put her on high alert. She slowly slid a hand between the cushions of the couch looking for the gun she had hidden there, but it was gone. Madeline silently cursed and stood up. She walked over to the light switch and shut it off followed by opening and closing the front door.

The room was silent. Madeline hoped the opening and closing of the door would signal to whoever was in there that she had left. She hid in a hidden alcove as she waited. Nothing happened for a few long minutes…until her phone started flashing and vibrating. She pulled it from her back pocket and looked to see who it was. _Number Withheld. _Footsteps echoed around the room. Madeline answered the call but turned the volume of the caller down and placed it back in her pocket.

A silhouette appeared in the entrance of the hallway. Madeline pressed herself further into the wall when the shadow moved toward her. She quieted her breathing just like she was trained to do and waited. She silent killer inside her slowly surfacing as the shadow grew closer. When the shadow was within arm's length, Madeline made her move. She swiped the person's feet out from under them. The person let out a groan as he hit the floor. Madeline was on top of the man and sending punch after punch to his face before she was thrown to the side.

"Damn it…" she muttered as her head hit a leg of the coffee table.

The lights flickered to life, temporarily blinding Madeline. When her vision returned she flung her hands up and caught the man's foot. She pushed his foot to the side and rolled out of the way. Madeline jumped to her feet and crouched into a defensive position. The room was empty. Her eyes danced around the room looking for the intruder. Before she could pivot she was put in a chokehold. Her hands flew to the man's arm, keeping him from applying more pressure. She gasped as her airways constricted. She clawed at the arm before thrusting her elbow into his abdomen.

"Shit." The man muttered releasing her. Madeline recoiled and grappled the man to the ground, twisting his arm behind his back. She pushed his arm up further and heard the man shout in pain.

"Who the hell are you?" she spat tightening her grip.

The response she received wasn't what she expected. He started to laugh. She pushed his arm further back forcing him to inhale deeply from the pain.

"Answer me." Madeline growled.

"You should be more careful of your surroundings, Maddie." A voice said from behind.

Madeline's body froze. She recognized that voice. She slowly looked over her shoulder, her eyes wide as saucers. The man beneath her struggled to get away but Madeline refused to move. She got tired of him struggling and knocked him out. She gradually rose to her feet and turned to face Justin. Her hands rose as a gun was pointed at her.

"I thought you were dead?" Madeline breathed out.

"I was compromised. I couldn't let the agency take me in, not after all the work I did."

"You…You were the mole?" she asked in disbelief.

"If only you had kept your nose out of the investigation none of this would have ever happened. You were too smart for your own good. An exceptional spy too. Too bad I had to ruin your career by planting evidence in your desk and on your computer. No hard feelings?"

"Why? I thought we were friends…" she said lowering her head.

"You trusted people too easily, that was your stupidest mistake. It's a miracle you weren't killed. Everything was set up perfectly; your body was to never be found."

"That was your master plan? Blame me and then have me killed in a hail of gunfire? Kudos to you, no matter how piss-poor a job it was." She smirked as her hair hid her face from view.

She lifted her head and took a step forward. Justin narrowed his eyes as she didn't stop moving.

"There's no one here to save you."

Madeline kept walking.

"Damn it, Madeline. I will shoot you!"

When she stopped walking the barrel of the gun was aimed right at her head. Her eyes were cold and devoid of life as she stared Justin in the eye.

"What's stopping you from pulling the trigger? I'm right here." She said.

"Madeline…" Justin ground out.

"Do it, Justin."

"Maddie, stop."

"Goddamn it, Justin! Do it!" she shouted.

Justin cocked the gun. Madeline's eyes fluttered to the door for a split second. She saw John standing there. When he caught her eye, he lifted a finger to his lips telling her to keep quiet. She turned back to Justin and closed her eyes, hoping John acted quickly. Time seemed to slow as Madeline opened her eyes. She looked back up at Justin who was watching her.

"You have guts. That's one of the things I liked about you." He said lowering the gun. Madeline's brow furrowed at the action. She went to speak when she heard movement behind her. She glanced to the door but didn't see John. Her eyes trailed over to the alcove she had occupied and saw him. He signaled with his eyes that someone was behind her. She dipped her head slightly so as not to alert Justin.

"You don't have to do this. I'll give you enough money to get out of New York, or even the country. New passport, new credit cards you name it." She tried to reason.

"You don't know who sent me do you?" Justin said.

"How would I know?"

"Denton Weeks, does that name ring any bells?"

"No…" Madeline slowly answered.

"Too bad." Justin said before nodding his head.

That's when John moved. He tackled Justin to the ground and wrenched the gun from his hand. They wrestled on the floor until John landed a punch to Justin's nose, breaking it. Madeline went to retrieve the gun when a chain wrapped around her neck. She clawed at the chain and tried to kick the man behind her holding it. She grunted as the chain tightened, closing her airways once again.

"John…" she gasped, "John…!"

He looked over to see what was happening and cursed. "Maddie!"

John punched Justin in the solar plexus, making sure he wasn't getting up. He grabbed the gun and aimed it at the man's head. The man pulled Madeline in the line of the gun and let out a sinister chuckle. Madeline stopped struggling and focused on John.

"Do you trust me?" John said.

Madeline was silent for a few seconds and then answered, "Yes."

"What are you doing? You'll end up hitting her!" The man exclaimed, but the fear wasn't hidden.

John's hand was steady as his finger curled around the trigger. Madeline held her breath as she waited for him to shoot; her eyes never leaving his. A few seconds later the gun fired and Madeline fell back as the bullet embedded itself in the man's head. She rolled off him and tossed the chain to the floor. She coughed and massaged her throat. John knelt down beside her and grabbed her shoulders.

"Let me see." He said softly. He brushed the hair from her neck and ran a hand over the already forming bruises. John gently prodded the skin and apologized when Madeline flinched. He helped Madeline to her feet and guided her to the kitchen and had her sit at the table. He made a bag of ice and rested it against Madeline's neck.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"That was some pretty good acting back there. You had me convinced." John smirked and sat down. His smirk faded when he saw the look in Madeline's eyes. He grabbed her hand and rubbed his finger over her knuckles. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"How much did you hear?"

"Him framing you for being the mole and nearly having you killed. Pretty much everything."

Madeline cracked a small smile when groaning from the other room alerted them.

"I'll take care of him. Go pack a bag and be ready to leave when I come back." He said standing up and planting a kiss on her forehead.

John swept out of the room before she could say anything. She heard a small scuffle followed by the door opening and closing. The chair scrapped across the floor as Madeline pushed away from the table. She stood up, leaving the chair out and headed for her room. Madeline roughly pushed the door open, not caring that it bounced off the wall, and stalked over to her bed. She got down on all fours and reached under the bed pulling out an army green duffle bag. She walked to the closet and mindlessly started tossing clothes into the bag. Once she was done, she turned around and jumped back seeing Finch standing in the doorway.

"Damn it Harold, are you sure you're not a ninja or something?"

"I'm guessing breaching the space-time continuum doesn't count?"

"Not unless it has been proven. And when it does please let me know."

"I'll be sure to remember that." Finch said pulling out his phone, "John's in the car waiting. If you're ready that is?"

Madeline held up her index finger and turned back to the closet. She felt Harold inch toward her for a closer look. Her right hand knocked along the side wall of the closet, searching. A portion of the wall was hollow and with a smile on her face Madeline gave a little push hearing it pop. She slid the secret door up to reveal a small safe.

"Do I want to know how you built that in?" Harold asked.

"It's my little secret." She replied opening the safe. Madeline grabbed a few wads of cash and what looked like a remote. Harold didn't question her about the remote, whatever it was he knew he would find out in time. She turned around and placed the cash in the bag and zipped it up. With the bag slung over her shoulder, she was set. Harold led her down to the car and opened the door for her. Madeline thanked him and climbed in behind John. Harold climbed into the passenger seat and they were off.

* * *

~J~

I think eleven pages are the most I have ever typed for a story. This is kind of a filler chapter because I don't want to just keep going through the episodes. I might just start doing this from now on, but still have the last few episodes incorporated and move on from there. Happy Halloween everyone!


	15. Chapter 14

I promise I am not dead, nor have I abandoned this fic! I've been ridiculously busy with work and school. Only recently have I found the time to sit down and actually start writing again. And I am happy to say this story will be coming to a close since there are only 4 more chapters to hit in season 1. After that I shall move onto season 2, but before that I might end up going through this story and edit it a little bit, but nothing major.

Disclaimer: I only own Madeline Simmons.

www .polyvore cgi / set?id = 80000154 This is Madeline's outfit for the last part of the chapter. (Everyone seems to like these so I'll try and add them to each chapter. Oh and just remove the spaces.)

~J~

* * *

The ride was silent as John drove. As the car came to a stop, Madeline looked up at the library not entirely sure why they were there. Grabbing her bag, she climbed out after John and Harold only to pause when John appeared in front of her. He took her bag from her and placed a hand in the middle of her back as they went inside. Madeline knew they hadn't talked much about their relationship, and judging from John's reaction in the restaurant he didn't want many people to know especially while on a number. Harold continued upstairs while John and Madeline stood in the center of the scattered books.

"I think it's about time we talked." John said once Harold was out of earshot.

"I was wondering when you'd say that." She replied. Madeline motioned with a hand toward one of the couches left over from when the library was open. She took a seat and waited for John to sit beside her.

"I think it would be best if we set some ground rules when we are working." He paused, taking her hand in his. "Rule number one, no touchy feely. Rule number two, no food. You never know when you'll have to leave. And rule number three, if caught act like you don't know the other person unless otherwise contraindicated ."

Madeline stood up as she thought over John's set rules. She bent down and picked up one of the many books and turned it over, _Of Human Bondage_ by W. Somerset Maugham. She smiled at the book as she remembered reading it when she was younger.

"Maddie?" John asked walking up behind her.

"I agree to the rules, but rule number two, really? That one was a given." She chuckled.

John wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Madeline leaned into his back as she held onto the book. She couldn't shake the recent events that occurred and how Justin had been alive. She was pulled from her thoughts when John pulled away and turned her around to face him. He cupped her face and leaned forward closing his eyes. Madeline followed suit and their lips molded together. Madeline wrapped her arms behind John's neck as his hands trailed down her sides to her waist.

They both pulled away and smiled as John rested his forehead against Madeline's. Madeline gently pushed away from John and looked up at him.

"I think we've been gone too long. Harold might think something happened to us."

"Agreed." John replied. Madeline stood up on her tip-toes and gave John a quick kiss before heading up the stairs.

When they reached the top floor they didn't see Finch anywhere. Madeline quirked an eyebrow as she searched the surrounding area.

"I swear he is a ninja sometimes."

"I thought you two would have left by now. You deserve the rest." Finch said appearing behind her.

Madeline sighed and looked over at John to find him smirking. She shot him a glare before walking away. "I need some sleep. I'll see you two in the morning."

"Madeline, I suggest not going back to your place. For all we know someone could still be looking for you." Finch said causing her to stop.

"I was going to stay in a hotel, but if you have a better offer I'm all ears."

"You're staying with me." John answered.

~J~

The following morning John awoke to find Madeline was gone. He figured she was already with Finch, but when he arrived at the library she was nowhere to be seen.

"Bit of a late start, Mr. Reese. Did you forget to set you alarm?" Finch asked as John walked in looking around the room.

"Had my yoga class." Reese replied as he stood in front of Finch.

"Well, I hope you've gotten in touch with your chi and if you're looking for Madeline she isn't here. It seems we have a big day ahead of us. We received five numbers this morning." Finch said turning toward the pictures.

"Huh. Bumper crop."

"Meet the heads of the five families. Caparelli, Zambrano, Grifoni, Basile, Gianni Morretti, Jr.

"Morretti's son." John commented.

"Junior took over when Morretti went to prison. Unless all these men suddenly decided to turn on one another, I think it's fair to assume they're being targeted."

"Short list of people crazy enough to take on the leadership of Cosa Nostra."

"Only one in my opinion."

"Elias." Madeline said entering the room. "He's already kidnapped his father." She finished stopping at John's side.

"Eliminate the remaining dons; he could control the entire Mafia." Finch said.

"I don't know Finch. We could let the trash take out the trash."

"John…" Madeline mumbled.

"I know they encouraged a certain moral flexibility when you worked at the CIA, but I like to think that we're reaching for a higher standard. In any case, we need to consider the collateral damage."

Madeline excused herself as the John and Finch went over what each person was doing. Madeline had settled on following Fusco to see if there's any news on HR and Elias.

"Detective Fusco." Madeline said leaning against his car.

"Wonder boy having you follow me now?"

Madeline shook her head, "I know about your meeting with Officer Simmons. I just wanted to let you know I'll be following you. If HR has anything to do with Elias we want to know about it, besides HR doesn't know about me so I won't be suspicious."

"Right, whatever you say." Fusco said before climbing into his car.

Lionel watched as Madeline walked over to a silver Chevy Cruz. He started his car and pulled away from the police station as the Cruz followed him. When they reached Fusco's meeting area Madeline stopped a few feet away and listened to their conversation with the remote she took from her apartment.

"_Forty-five minutes to Queens. I got a real job, you know."_

"_HR is your real job, Fusco. I need some intel on that guy who's stirring things up around town. Tall guy with a suit. Likes shooting people in the kneecaps."_

"_Thought he was yesterday's news."_

"_Not to the feds. They set up a new task force trying to locate him. We want to know everything they do. See if we can get to him ourselves."_

Madeline muttered a curse under her breath; just what they needed the feds getting involved. John and Harold needed to know about this and soon.

"_Why, you looking to put him on the payroll?" _

"_You ask a lot of questions, Fusco."_

"_I got an inquisitive mind." _

"_We're doing a job for Elias." _

"_Since when does HR work for Elias?"_

Madeline sat straighter as Officer Simmons turned to face Fusco. This was it. The piece of the puzzle they needed. She turned to look at the two but she quickly turned away as Simmons looked in her direction.

"_We don't work for anybody. We lend a hand when it's I our best interest. Right now, that's Elias. When you're done looking into that matter, I'd call in sick. You don't want to be working Homicide the next couple of days."_

She took that as her cue to leave and get back to the library. They had some of the information they needed on Elias and there was no time to waste. Madeline drove by the two men acting like she was talking on the phone when she caught Fusco's eye. She gave him a small nod and sped up leaving the two behind.

~J~

When Madeline arrived at the Library her brow creased at the stern expression on John's face. Finch turned toward her and then back to John. She noticed John was on the phone and quietly stood next to Finch.

"Elias, end this before anyone else gets hurt."

"_I'm only doing what I think is best for the city." _

"So you're going to kill everyone who gets in the way?

"_We're more alike than you'd like to admit. We're both killers in our own right. But now you save innocent people like Charlie Burton, not old gangsters. Just leave those men to me."_

"You know I can't do that."

"_I can't say I'm surprised. I'll see you on the other side."_

John hung up and turned to Finch as he spoke. "We have another problem. Detective Carter."

"What about her?" Madeline asked.

"I thought she wasn't answering her calls." John said.

"She wasn't, but as you know I've always taken a somewhat liberal view of how to use a telephone. She knows that Elias is up to something. She started reaching out to the remaining dons, offering them police protection." Finch explained.

"She doesn't know that Elias is planning to take them all out at once. Or that he's got HR's backing. I need her location. Now."

Finch glanced up at Madeline as he went to tracking down Carter. She glanced down at him and sighed before setting the remote on the table and running after John.

"John, hold up. You should know HR is working with Elias."

"And you know this how?" he asked glancing down at her.

"I have my ways…and I followed Fusco."

They reached Carter's position just as she, Basile and the officer were shot at. Madeline pulled out her gun and shot the gunman just as he was about to cross the street. John walked out of the shadows followed by Madeline and turned to face Carter.

"You really should return your calls, Detective." John said as Madeline put away her gun.

John, Madeline and Carter sat in a nearby diner after the officer was taken to the hospital. Madeline sat beside Carter by the window as John was across from them.

"The officer's stable. Lucky for us, you two got good timing. I guess you should know the FBI has a new task force set up in your honor. They think you're working with Elias." Carter said.

"I'm often misunderstood." John replied making Madeline chuckle.

"I take it things didn't go as expected with Mr. Basile." Finch said taking a seat next to John.

Carter sighed, "Elias transferred 4 million dollars in the past 48 hours to a dozen cash-and-carry hubs around the city. We could use those transfers to track down the men working for him, but I can't access their database without a warrant."

"Maybe I can use other techniques to access the information we need." Finch commented looking at Carter.

Madeline saw the expression on Carter's face and knew that wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"If we track down the men on Elias' payroll that may lead us right to him." John said.

"Besides it's the only way for you to get your answers, Carter." Madeline added.

"Fine, but in the meantime, I need to convince those old dons that the only way to stay alive is to work with us. Thanks for the backup." Carter said as she got ready to leave.

"Uh, if I'm not there next time, I want you to be prepared." John said pulling a black bag from the spot next to him and handed it over to Carter.

Carter opened the bag and gave a small chuckle. "Not exactly standard issue. Should I ask where you got these?"

"Probably best if you don't." John answered.

Madeline chose that time to speak. "How about I go with you tomorrow? I could help you in convincing the dons and be your back up if needed."

"Thank you. I'd appreciate that, but I don't think it's a good idea."

"Don't worry about me, Carter. I know how to blend in." Madeline smirked.

~J~

The day came when Carter would convince the dons to go into police protection whether they wanted to or not, and Madeline would be by her side along with Fusco. Speaking of the detective that was the one they were waiting for. Madeline and Carter checked the guns over as they waited for the last member of their little group to show up. Carter glanced over at Madeline as she secured a gun in the back of her pants.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Carter asked.

"Elias needs to be stopped at all costs. Besides I offered to help." Madeline responded as Fusco arrived.

"You getting shipped to Iraq or something?" he asked spotting the guns.

"We need an assist. Did you bring the extra vest and ammo like I asked?"

"Yeah and who's we?"

"Just get in. You're the only cop I can trust right now." She said ignoring his question.

Fusco took the wheel as Carter sat shotgun. He looked into the rearview mirror and spotted Madeline in the back. They held eye contact for a few minutes until Fusco started the car and headed for the Covenant Club. Madeline followed Carter and Fusco inside but waited outside of the room as they talked.

"Detectives, what's so important that you bullied you way into our club?" Madeline heard Zambrano say.

"You're going into protective custody until we can find Elias." Carter replied.

"Heh. I don't think so."

"It's not really up for discussion. You failed to control this man. Some of you tried to cut deals with him. And now he's coming after you. I'm not going to stand by and let innocent civilians get killed because you choose to ignore what was right in front of your nose."

"Jimmy! Come show the detectives out." Zambrano called. She heard a chair move and got ready as Morretti Jr. appeared around the corner.

"What, are you sleeping?" he said only to stop as he spotted her.

"Jimmy." Zambrano called again.

Morretti and Madeline entered the room together as Carter looked back at Zambrano.

"Looks like you boys abandoned you. You wanna bet Elias's men aren't far behind?" she said.

"We don't work with cops." Morretti said.

Madeline smirked. "Today's your lucky day then."

"You don't want to come voluntarily, I'm gonna take you by force." Carter said pulling out her gun along with Fusco. Madeline stood behind them keeping a close eye on the remaining dons.

"Are you gonna shoot us?" Morretti asked.

"If I shoot you then maybe Elias won't have to blow up a carload of innocent people."

"Shouldn't we call for backup?" Fusco asked.

"You are my backup."

Fusco looked at Carter then back at Madeline who confirmed what she said. "Great…"

"Now let's go before Elias's men show up." Madeline ordered as Carter and Fusco escorted the men out of the club.

Everyone climbed into the Explorer just as the doors opened and Elias's men stepped out. Madeline slammed the SUV's door just as Carter fired on the men and Fusco hit the gas, speeding away. Morretti's phone rang but Madeline didn't pay it any mind as it was handed over to Carter. She kept an eye on the men following behind them as Fusco swerved through traffic to lose them.

The Explorer came to a stop and everyone piled out. Carter took the lead up front while Madeline kept an eye out behind them as they entered the building. Madeline was the last one to enter the building and shut the door behind her, locking it. She looked around and instantly knew it belonged to Harold.

"Who owns this place again?" Fusco asked.

"A friend." Carter replied.

"You got some weird friends, Carter."

Madeline chuckled and walked over to the window to keep an eye out. Carter was the first one to join her followed by Fusco. The time passed quickly as the sun started to set.

"How long do you think we could stay here?" Fusco asked.

"Until we know they're safe." Carter responded.

"They're mob bosses, Carter. That ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

"We've got company." Madeline said causing the two detectives to look out the window.

"You've got to be kidding me. How did Elias's men find us? I thought you shook them off."

"I did. We were free and clear."

Madeline muttered a curse and moved away from the window and left the room. She opened one of the few doors in the building and walked inside. The room was bare except for some empty book cases. She looked around the room and stopped when she heard a creak from the floor board. She knelt down on her haunches and lifted the loose floor board, however there was nothing there. Madeline sighed and replaced the floor board before exited the room.

"What do you have?" Madeline heard Carter ask. She walked over to the woman when her face turned to one of worry.

"_Carter, I need to tell you something. And you've got to know I'm not gonna let anything happen to him. You understand? I'll find him." _

"Find who? What's going on, John?"

Madeline stood beside Carter as she pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. Madeline caught a glimpse at the name before Carter answered.

"Taylor? Taylor."

"_You got a great kid here, detective." _

"I swear to God, if you touch him I'll kill you."

"_And you have the means to set him free. You can't call backup. Who are you gonna trust anymore?"_

"You know I can't hand these guys over to you. I might as well kill them myself."

"_If you're up to it that would be helpful."_

"Why do you need the bosses' dead, Elias? You've already shown how powerful you are."

Madeline's head shot up at Elias' name. She looked over at Carter who had her back turned and staring at the wall. Fusco walked over to the kitchen counter and pulled out his phone.

"_You don't understand the evil you're protecting, do you? Let me tell you soething about Zambrano. He earns his living by selling heroin to school children. Grifoni sells guns to the highest bidder. My esteemed half-brother. A man who not only imports drugs, but young girls. These are the men you're protecting."_

"Things would be much better under your watch, huh?"

"_I run an efficient enterprise. There's no infighting, there's no conflict over territory. I am the evolution of organized crime."_

"You're a force of corruption and weakness. My answer is no." Carter said hanging up on Elias. She turned back around and caught Madeline's eye before lifting the phone back to her ear. "He wants to trade Taylor for the dons. How can I do that?"

"_You can't. You don't have to make that decision. Because I'm gonna get your son back, no matter what the cost. I won't let anyone hurt him. Do you hear me, Carter?"_

"Promise me."

"_You have my word." _

Carter pocketed the phone as a hand was placed on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Madeline giving her a small comforting smile.

"John will get your son back. I know him and he always keeps his promises." She said comfortingly.

~J~

Night time had fallen an hour ago with no word from John or Elias. Madeline leaned against the wall as she looked out the window at the cars down below. She listened as Zambrano talked to Carter about Fusco to which she scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her eyes were ripped from the window when Elias's voice came over the speaker.

"_Hello, detective. I've come to talk it over in person. Are you ready to pick the right side?"_

Carter looked from the door, to Madeline and then to Fusco. She met Madeline's eyes again for reassurance that she can trust Fusco. Madeline nodded and signaled to the door.

"_I'm not gonna wait all night, detective."_

"Let him go, Elias. He's got no part in this."

"_Taylor seems like a very nice young man. I'd rather not hurt him. You need to accept the fact that no one's coming to save you. You are all alone."_

A noise on the other side of the door grabbed their attention. Carter stood by the door thinking of what to do now. A few moments passed when the noise stopped and Elias spoke again.

"Last chance detective. Those immoral corrupt men or your innocent son."

"No deal." Carter said ending the conversation.

"What are you gonna do?" Fusco asked.

"I'm staying right here. They're not getting past me. I'm not as alone as you think."

Madeline smirked and grabbed one of the guns cocking it. She followed Carter and stood in front of the door patiently waiting.

"Hey Carter, those HR cops just took off." Fusco said moving from the window.

"Keep the dons in the back." Carter ordered.

"Hey, you heard the lady. Get back." Fusco said ushering the men toward the kitchen.

"Open the door, detective." Zambrano said holding Fusco's extra gun. Madeline turned to face him her gun trained on him, unflinching.

"I should've known. All that nonsense about bringing Elias into the fold. You're an embarrassment. A rat." Morretti spat.

"Elias offered me a deal. When change comes, you got to adapt. You and your old man, you never learned that lesson."

"Drop it, Zambrano." Carter demanded.

"Not till you let me out of here. You should've given Elias everything he wanted like the rest of them."

"I don't look the other way."

"But your partner does. Right, Fusco? You see, in less than 30 seconds, there's a guy who's gonna come into this room and he's gonna run this city. You're a survivor. You gonna choose the right side? Or you gonna die alone here with your partner and that stupid broad?"

Fusco had enough and shot Zambrano before he could fire a shot. He looked over at Carter and nodded. The three stood at the ready as the door was broken down and Elias and his men entered.

"Not one more step, Elias. Tell your boys to put down their weapons. Or their day will end like Zambrano's over here."

"You're good at your job. I'm good at mine. I was hoping we could avoid further bloodshed."

"This is where it ends. Right here. Right now." Carter said.

Elias's eyes wandered over to Madeline as he put his hands up. Neither said a word to each other as sirens sounded outside.

"I called for backup. You gotta trust somebody, Carter. This guy doesn't own every cop. Get down. Get down."

"Carl Elias, you are under arrest. I'll have to check my notes for a list of charges. Murder and kidnapping are at the top."

"You can't stop the inevitable, detective. Change will happen whether you embrace it or not."

"Where's my father?" Morretti said walking up to Elias only to be stopped by Fusco. "You're dead. No one's ever gonna remember you even existed. You're nothing, you hear me?

Madeline took Carter's position as her phone started to ring. She didn't move her eyes off Elias as they stared at each other.

"I see you've chosen your side. I hope it's the side you really want."

"Shut it, Elias." Madeline glared ending all conversation.

"Talk to me." She heard Carter say into the phone.

"_Mom, it's me."_

"Taylor. Are you okay?" Carter said relieved.

"_That guy you sent is kind of a bad ass." _

"Yeah. He knows it too." Carter said looking over to Madeline who smirked.

"_Who's the guy with the glasses?"_

"Heh, if you find out, let me know."

"_Where are you?"_

"I'm safe. I'll see you soon."

~J~

The next morning around seven twenty three, Madeline and Carter stood waiting for John and Taylor to show up. Madeline watched Carter as she fidgeted in her spot in anticipation of seeing her son safe and sound. She looked up as Carter stopped fidgeting and looked over to see John and Taylor running over to her. Madeline smiled as she watched the mother son reunion and smiled at John.

"Are you okay?" Cater asked as she hugged her son.

Madeline walked up to the trio and stood beside John.

"Good to know you keep you promises."

"Told you I'd never let anything happen to your son."

"Thank you. And thank you, Madeline. It's good to know someone has my back."

"You're welcome, Joss. You two take care." Madeline smileed as John gave Carter a small upturn of his lips and walked away. She followed beside John as they walked down the wet sidewalk of New York.

"I'm glad to see you're okay." John said breaking the silence

"Me too, but we are going to have to tell Carter and Fusco about each other. She already believes him to be dirty. I'd hate to see them hurt each other." Madeline said as they walked to John's apartment for some much needed rest.

* * *

~J~

I hope this makes up for the long wait! If not I shall be working on the next chapter tomorrow or later tonight. I have so many stories to update that it's insane! Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and I want to thank everyone that has added this story to their favorites and follow list! It means a lot to me! Take care!


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